Mark credits his players for their efforts
Mark Lillis told htafc.com that his players deserved credit for their efforts over a tough seven days, despite losing 3-0 at Derby on Saturday afternoon.
Town have played three games in the last week during which they drew with second placed Leicester in the FA Cup before beating promotion chasers Crystal Palace on Wednesday and Mark felt that today was one hurdle too far for the Terriers.
“We didn’t underestimate Derby,” he said. “I think they were fresher than us and I think the players looked a little tired after playing three games in seven days.
“They deserved to win, but the effort and passion from our lads was clear to see,” he added. “You have to give credit to Derby who got two goals up in the first half. We are disappointed with our defending for the third goal and that won’t happen again, we will nip that in the bud.
“The players deserve a lot of credit for the week that they have had starting with the Leicester game to Wednesday night and then today. The fans deserve credit as well for turning out in good numbers today.”
Mark continued: “All the players are giving me and Steve (Eyre) everything and that is what I wanted from the day I took over. We are massively disappointed because we believed we could get a result; we have got a chance on the way back to analyse what went wrong.”
Lillis continued by admitting that Derby’s midfield surprised him with the way that they played.
“Derby drove from midfield well; the four in midfield didn’t really the pass the ball and they got at us well. We tried to change things around a little, but it was difficult. They played some good football and scored a couple of good goals.”
In terms of his position, Mark said that he will speak with the appropriate people at the start of next week: “We will come back in on Monday and get back to work in preparation for Cardiff next Saturday. I will speak with Dean (Hoyle) and the Board on
Monday and if they give me the green light then we will look at the squad and select a team that we believe can beat Cardiff.”
Mark finished by delivering bad news on the injury front.
“Peter Clarke didn’t know where he was at half-time, I asked him what the score was and he looked and me and said “what do you mean”. It was a no-brainer for him to come off and he went straight off to hospital to have a scan. James Vaughan has been sick in the changing room and is suffering from mild concussion and Lee Novak picked up a kick on his metatarsal. You don’t like people getting injured, but it shows that the lads are putting their bodies on the line.”
Town are back in action next weekend against Cardiff and you can purchase tickets online HERE
