Flores Delighted With Striking Duo

Following the two nil victory over Norwich City yesterday and our start to life back in the Premier League, manager Quique Sanchez Flores has praised the importance of Troy Deeney and Odion Ighalo following the game, but said he’s not concerned that we are relying on them at the minute for goals.

In quotes carried by Sky Sports from his post game press conference, Flores explained that at this minute it was very much a case of looking up the Premier League table as opposed to down given the results we have been picking up, and the performances the players have been putting in.

‘The word in the dressing room is not ‘relegation’. Our target is to be competitive. We are not in a hurry to think about what will happen in January or February, we are just thinking about Sunderland. We have worked very hard since the beginning and we never talk about being at the bottom of the league. We are always talking about the next match, this is our mentality and we are happy with it as it’s working. I have the feeling we are very competitive every time we play. We are always in the match and have the possibility to win, including when we are drawing or not scoring we have the feeling we can do it.’

With tricky weather conditions at Vicarage Road, Flores admitted it was difficult for both sides to get a rhythm in their normal style of play, but he was pleased with how we coped with it.

‘The conditions were very bad for both teams to play with the wind it was difficult. It changed the path of the ball all the time so it was very difficult for the players to play a pass and keep control of it.’

And as for the praise for the two goalscorers on the day, he added.

‘Deeney is always ready to take the penalty in every situation so it was very important to score because after we can manage the match. I think we had very clear chances before (Ighalo’s goal), he had two or three very good chances but every time we score it is very good for the team.’

Elsewhere, he’s also quoted as saying.

‘I love my strikers and I love the team we have. We have passion, we have ambition and we have soul. I have an amazing feeling with these players and they are loving the Premier League. They are playing well and they are doing the best they have inside. Deeney feels passion for this team and Ighalo took a very good decision months ago when he had the opportunity to go and he stayed here.’

With 14 of our 17 goals between them, he went on to say that it didn’t concern him because they are our strikers and they should get the lion’s share of them.

‘I`m not worried. I would be worried if we didn`t create chances, put in crosses or if we were playing very far away from the opponent`s box. This is not the case. The statistics reflect the match. My feeling is that we create different situations and when the match finishes I have the statistics which say Ighalo and Deeney have maybe three or four shots, Etienne Capoue has one, Abdi and Jose Manuel Jurado have two.’

With on loan Chelsea’s Nathan Ake colliding with Andre Wisdom in the game and a number of minutes of treatment before he could continue, Flores went on to say.

‘He`s good. He`s young, strong. There`s no problem. We are very happy with the performance of Ake. He`s a very good man and a very good player.’