Chris Hughton
Image by: Paul Hazlewood
PUBLISHED
06:00 14th December 2015
by James Hilsum
You can have your roles and responsibilities, but sometimes you’re going to be broken down. "
Chris Hughton
CHRIS HUGHTON is pleased with the form of his forward players, after James Wilson and Rajiv van La Parra both found the net in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Derby County.Chris Hughton
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The Albion boss feels he has good strength in depth in the attacking berths, going into a hectic period of fixtures.
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“It was my intention to play Tomer [Hemed], but I still had a decision on who else to play up top. James [Wilson] has trained well, Bobby’s [Zamora] wife gave birth this week, so it’s been a good week for him.
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“It’s difficult for Elvis [Manu] to get in at the moment, but we’ve got everyone available.
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“At the minute, you look at the fixture list and you don’t see a comfortable game. Certainly it’s nice when you bring in two loan players and they’re both on the scoresheet.
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“We expected James to play regularly, but for Rajiv, given the form of the two wide players, it was going to be difficult for him to get the minutes he wants.
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“But he contributed to the final goal last week and he’s scored what ultimately got us a point on Saturday.”
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Hughton praised the determination shown by his side on the day and did not want to lay blame on any of his players after conceding the first goal.
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“Bradley Johnson is excellent at what he does. You can have your roles and responsibilities, but sometimes you’re going to be broken down.
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“You don’t apportion any blame, but that’s what got them back in the game. The timing of when they scored their first goal should’ve given them a lift coming out in the second half, and you see that many times, but we have got really good character in the team.”
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PAUL CLEMENT praised his side’s determination, after the Rams twice recovered from a goal down to claim a point against Brighton & Hove Albion.
He told dcfc.co.uk, “We certainly didn’t deserve to lose the game based on the chances we created.“We showed great character to get back into the game having gone behind twice - especially with their goals coming against the run of play.
“The first was a sucker punch and it took us a bit of time to get back into the game but we finished the half strongly.
“The second half was much more of a cagey affair. It was more tactical, a little bit cat and mouse and the tempo dropped. It picked up in the last 15 minutes.”
The Rams boss stressed how vital Chris Martin’s penalty was, with the East Midlands side facing the prospect of going seven points behind the league leaders.
“It was important that we didn’t lose the game because that would have put them seven points ahead of us in the table.
“That’s a fairly big gap – even at this stage of the season – so with Middlesbrough drawing and Hull winning, it has made it very compact at the top.
“Although we are disappointed not to win it is important to remember it wasn’t a loss - it was a valuable point and it keeps us in and around where we should be.”
[h=3]ALBION V MIDDLESBROUGH
[/h]SATURDAY 19TH DECEMBER, KICK-OFF 12.30PM
[h=3]ALBION V IPSWICH TOWN
[/h]TUESDAY 29TH DECEMBER, KICK-OFF 7.45PM
[h=3]ALBION V WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS**
[/h]FRIDAY 1ST JANUARY, KICK-OFF 3PM
Original article