Having played his part in a superb defensive effort to try and keep Manchester City at bay, Jurrien Timber was left with a mixture of emotions post-match.
There was so much pride from everyone connected with the club at the defensive shift we out in to try and maintain our 2-1 lead at the Etihad Stadium, but also huge disappoointment we conceded with a minute to go to only leave the north-west with a point.
But when that subsides, our defender feels that the positives gained from the performance and result will carry us onwards into a run of four home games on the spin as we continue to fight for silverware on three fronts.
Describing how it felt to constantly defend wave after wave of City pressure, he joked: “It felt like two hours of defending! It was hard but it was all worth it if we would've won it. Even with this draw we can be proud of ourselves.
“We’re gutted, disappointed, but also proud of the team because we gave everything we could. I think there's one moment, and they score, which is really sad for us, but I think we can look back on a good game from us.
“We feel like we could win this game. That moment with the referee in the first half changed the whole game so, but those are sometimes things you don't have in hand. What we had in hand, we gave everything. In the second half, we did everything we could, we left it all out there, and it wasn't enough. Hopefully next time it will.”
The game at the Etihad Stadium brought to a close a huge week for the club, starting with the north London derby win against Tottenham Hotspur and our Champions League opener in Italy against Atalanta where we secured a solid point.
While the goal was the win all three matches, Jurrien feels that the results have still been positives, while he has benefitted from the additional gametime as he continues to get back into the groove of regular football after so long on the sidelines.
Analysing the week, he said: “You want to win. Thursday, today, we didn't but still, it was a long and hard week for myself. It's been a long time since I've played so many games, especially in seven days, so that's really good.
“We just need to keep going and keep improving. I think we showed a huge performance today. No win, unlucky, but I think we can build on this for sure.”
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