Pleased with a win and clean sheet at home?
"Pleased. None of these games are easy and I know that because I’ve played in them.
"They made changes, we did and I was pleased with our approach in the first half, not so
much with the second because I wanted us to kick on and show relentless we could be in
doing what we were doing well, particularly down the right hand side, that’s me being
picky but I think that’s what we have to aspire to for the levels we want to sustain to be better."
Thoughts on Callum Hudson-Odoi's performance?
"A good performance and pleased to see him high up the pitch, pleased to see him being
aggressive in how he gets at people which is what he is there for. He gets his goal
with a great strike
"It’s been an interesting twelve months for him considering how young he is, when
you take that into account. Last year everyone was talking about him for different reasons.
He gets a terrible injury, he comes back very early and when he did come back there were
issues getting him tip top.
"In terms of the injury it had been. Then he is in the spotlight because of who he is
and the new contract. It was a nice step forward for him today. Next time it will be can you
do more, can you do this, can you do that?"
How long does it take to get a player back from an injury like that?
"Depends on the player and the injury. When Callum comes back when you are a player of
speed and sharpness that’s your one of your main weapons. When you have had an injury
that severe that weapon is held back. There is a lot of strength work he needs to do.
"Generally anyway because he is a young player, like with Ruben LC. Stuff on the pitch and
in the gym now we’re getting him towards the point where he has that acceleration.
which makes him the player he is
Is he 100% now, then?
"Medically I don’t know but as a player he’s not because he’s 19 and he’s had
that injury and there’s a lot more to come from him."
How important is winning the FA Cup?
"I’d obviously love to but I also know that every year you start again with it and every
year it’s a tough little road to get to the final and then to win a final. You look
around at the results around us yesterday and today, Premier League sides team drawing,
having to play replays.
"We’ve got through this round, who knows what we’re going to get in the next round?
But we have to set our sights to try and win it because this club always wants to be competitive
and it’s another competition we’re in now. Three competitions and we’ll give everything
in all of them."
Michy and Giroud futures?
"There’s no update on Oli and my answer remains the same as it has done recently.
I’ve spoken with him. If the conditions are that it’s something Oli really wants
to do and it works for the club and it works for me and the squad then it’s something
that could happen. But only when all three of those bases are covered."
Has the FA Cup lost its sparkle?
No
"It hasn’t for me and it hasn’t for us. But I understand when managers who are in
the firing line who have things they have to achieve in the Premier League and squads
and situations behind the scenes that we don’t see when it’s their squad – I know things
about my squad – sometimes you have to prioritise or look at things differently. I don’t think
it’s lost its sparkle but I understand managers who might see it in a different way."
Thoughts on Barkley and Pedro's performance?
"I thought they all did okay, certainly in terms of how they applied themselves, because
it’s easy for me to demand a lot and say ‘Come in and make a difference and show
us you should play every week’.
"Their answer would be if we’re not playing every week it’s not easy on a one-off chance.
I’m very aware of that so I’m not expecting them necessarily to make an absolute difference
that makes me go ‘Oh’. But I thought all their applications were good. It was a difficult
game. There were things as a team we could have done better.
"We could have been sharper once we did play through the lines to then go ‘How many chances
are we going to create’. That’s been an ongoing theme, not just for those, but for
the team playing before. But I thought they all did okay and now we have a month of January
and it’s important for us going into the two-week break. I want competition.
"I want people to show, not just today, I want them to show it in training every day
of the week. I want every player to say ‘I want to be in the team for Burnley’."
Will Danny Drinkwater go out on loan again?
"We’ll see. It’s a possibility."