Lolley rues early second-half strike
- Joe Lolley left frustrated by 4-1 defeat
- Joe speaks of first Premier League goal despite being left disappointed
- Subscribe to #HTTV+ to listen to Joe’s full interview
Joe Lolley told #HTTV how he was left frustrated in the manner of the goals conceded after the 4-1 home defeat to West Ham United.
Joe explained that Town should have continued to build the pressure which they applied following his 40th minute equaliser as the second half began, despite Marko Arnautovic netting just 12 seconds after the restart:
“It’s frustrating and we’ve shot ourselves in the foot. The goals were sloppy and silly to give away.
“The mood in the dressing room was good at half-time, we felt we could push on. That goal was a bit of a sucker-punch, but it shouldn’t have stopped us from continuing where we left off in the first half and from pushing on, but it worked out well for them as they counter-attack well. We didn’t defend well enough as a team.”
The attacking midfielder, who was making his first home Premier League start, continued to say that he felt Town didn’t manage to cope with the visitors’ physicality well enough. Joe also admitted that he felt Town found it difficult to break down West Ham’s defensive mentality of packing bodies behind the ball in and around the box.
“It was tough, and the goal we conceded early in the second half allowed them to stay in that shape and be happy with what they had. It was very hard, especially in and around the box as they had a lot of numbers behind the ball; it’s something we have to learn and improve upon for the next game.
“It wasn’t a real surprise as they do have a lot of athletic players who get round the pitch very well and we didn’t cope with it well enough.”
On a personal level, Joe was pleased to have scored his first Premier League goal for Huddersfield Town whilst making amends for the Hammers’ opener; and stressed that Town need to move on quickly ahead of next week’s trip to Stoke.
“I was frustrated to give away the first goal. Cutting in off the right is natural for me, and I’ve just curled it round the defender and luckily its gone in to give us a way back into the game.”
“It’s the Premier League, you’ve got to move on. We’ll look back on what we need to work on, on the things we didn’t do well enough. As soon as we’ve done that we need to focus on the next game at Stoke City.”
Joe rounded off by praising the ever-vocal Terriers faithful:
“They’re brilliant every week, home and away. They’re some of the best supporters in the league and they’re always backing us. As long as they stick with us, we’ll be ok.”
You can watch clips from Joe’s interview below on #HTTV!
