Quotes

Tierney - The win? It's a start, isn't it

Kieran Tierney and Pablo Mari
Kieran Tierney and Pablo Mari

Kieran Tierney was in outstanding form as we beat Chelsea on Boxing Day.

The Scotland international was fouled for the penalty that broke the deadlock, and proved a constant attacking threat down the left.

Afterwards, he discussed the importance of the win, what was different about the team's display and more. This is what he said:

on the importance of this win…

It’s a start, isn’t it? We needed that today and we needed to give the fans something to be positive about. We’ve had a few bad results this season, so it’s a start.

 

on what was different about today’s performance…

I think we started better today. We didn’t wait until we went 1-0 down to start playing or creating chances because it’s always hard when you’re 1-0 down, but we started on the front foot today. That’s been the message in the last few weeks of training and we did that.

 

on whether it was a penalty…

I felt contact when I went down, but I’ve not seen it back.

 

on a number of youngsters starting…

All the youngsters here are hungry to play and it’s a big club. They’ve got the platform to play and today they started and they were brilliant.

 

on Mikel’s message at the break…

Keep going! In the last few weeks we’ve been in a different situation at half-time, so we did go in with a bit more positivity. He just told us to keep going and it was hard work that got us there in the first place, so we need to keep that up first and foremost.

 

on a nervous end to the game…

Yeah, Leno’s dug us out. It would have been another five minutes if that went in, so fair play to Leno. He’s an outstanding keeper and he saved us today.

 

on what this win gives us…

As I’ve said, It’s the start of something to build on. We’ve been looking to get that first win, the three points, but this is just the start. Chelsea are a good team and they’re higher up in the table than us. We knew it was going to be tough, so to come out with three points today is so important for us.