Philippe Clement has spoken to the media after the win over Motherwell at Hampden. Here is everything he had to say.
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What is your reaction to getting to the final?
We can go where we want to be, which is the final. We had that amazing feeling together with the fans last season and we can battle for that again. That was the aim of today and it's also a well-deserved victory in that way. It was probably the worst scenario that you can have. Starting the game well, creating chances and then on the first really dangerous ball in the box that you can see the goal. But this needs to be also a reference game for this squad, for this new squad. To do what we've been doing a lot last season and it's to dig in and in every situation to keep our belief, to keep on going, to keep on fighting and to break the wall if we go behind. This can be a massive game at the end of the season to have this one as a reference. I want to see every three days this mentality. That's what we've been talking about but talking is not enough. We need to do it on the pitch.
Given what happened in midweek, how much extra pressure did you and the players feel going into today?
We feel the pressure that we hate to lose. So the pressure is out of ourselves. We hate that. We want to react. We want to be better. The group showed that today. That's an important thing. I can talk about a lot of things but it needs to happen also. They need to feel it also. They can believe in these difficult moments to keep on pushing, to break open the wall of Motherwell with a lot of movement, with a lot of positive aggressivity also when we lost the ball. Like that, we created a lot of chances today. It should have been more. That I want to see much more the next weeks and the next months.
How were you at half-time? Were you angry with the missed chances that caused you in the first half?
I was calm because I felt that the team was really nervous in half-time and they needed the confidence also what they did well but also to push to get this 10-15% more to get the win of today. So that was important to get that. That's what they showed also in the second half. A lot of mentality but a lot of quality also. You always need to find that balance. If it's only mentality and you're only fighting and you don't play good football, we will not reach our goals also. So we need to have this subtle balance between the two. That's what they showed in the second half. Players stood up. We scored two really good goals. Collective goals, not individual goals. That will create a lot of belief for the next couple of months. Danilo coming back into the team as well.
Do you feel that the squad is, bit by bit, getting stronger now with the injured players coming back?
Yes. Dani is his first minutes also after a long while. It's important, those things. We missed Vaclav this week in Aberdeen. You see also his importance in the squad. All these things are very important. The more players who are available, the better for the squad. We have a very busy schedule. Thursday again, Sunday again. We will need this rotation and everybody available also in that way to get the results that we want. That's winning every time. Very simple. But not simple to do. It's very simple what we want. And what we said from the first day we stepped in this building. That's what I want to see. A mentality in this team to fight every time to win.
How big a challenge will Celtic be?
It's a big challenge. The biggest in Scotland. That's also a good thing. It's the next step to take to win this league cup again.
You said at half-time you thought the players were perhaps a bit nervous. Was that just down to the scoreline or were they feeling it from the crowd as well?
I don't know. I didn't speak about that. It's probably both. Probably both. But the most important thing is we have so many guys where it's the first time in this kind of environment. They need to go through these moments also to become stronger as a person, as a player. And that's why it's really important to have things like today. That they live this and that they see with hard work, with digging in, with staying collective, with staying positive, that you will get your reward at the end. Maybe not every time, but the times will be much more than we had until now.
Why do you think James is unable to hit the levels of last season?
I'm not going to speak about individual players today. I'm not going to do that.
How is Tom Lawrence?
Yeah, we need to see. He felt something with a shot at goal in his squats. Of course, if you come off first half, it's never a good sign. So we need to assess that in the next couple of days.
And Leon Balogun?
He only cramped at the end of the game.
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