Dani Rodríguez and Omar Mascarell were on post-match media duties after Takuma Asano’s goal saw us overcome Barnsley 1-0. Find out what the pair had to say below:
Dani Rodríguez
“You have to get used to winning. It's a pre-season cliché, but you have to get used to winning, whatever the match. Today we knew that the objective was to work with a lot of fatigue. The previous days' sessions have been very, very intense. The team worked with that fatigue and we won which is important.
“The training sessions have been very intense with and without the ball. It's true that we had a lot of fatigue and the pitch doesn't help. It has dried out and it's very long, but until the goal I think the team ran into space, had that intensity in defence. The truth is that I'm happy on a personal level and I think the group is working very well too.
“The group is wonderful. We've had a wonderful group for several years now. I think with that we are very capable of welcoming new people well, of having a great atmosphere in the dressing room. I've been in other locker rooms and when you arrive it's important to feel good and comfortable. To feel that you fit in and that's a little bit what the group tries to do, that everyone feels good and everyone feels confident to do and say what they want. That's important and I think that despite the difficulty Taku (Asano) has in communicating, I think he speaks English very well and we've had some banter already. I think they are adapting very well and he is a player who is going to give us a lot.
“Very good, very happy, looking forward to it. I've said it before. I've been at this club for seven years and I always say the same thing: everything has cost me a lot and I have to take care of it. I take care of everything to the maximum, every detail and it shows. In the end, on a mental level I'm very well, I'm looking forward to my best season, I want more and I want to keep growing, and I think that's the most important thing. On a physical level I feel very good and in the team I feel very good, very happy.
Omar Mascarell
“The important thing is to keep training, to keep getting more minutes. It's the second game of the season. It's difficult to draw conclusions so soon, but well, it's been a good week of training, with a lot of intensity. I think the team is gradually getting the idea we want to achieve. In these matches, the least important thing is the results. The important thing is to get a good feeling, to adapt to this new idea and little by little we're getting there.
“The adaptation of the new players is one of the things that worried me the least. I experienced it last year and I knew that whoever arrived would feel at home. The truth is that they are very integrated from the first day. They are very good kids. I think we are instilling in them what it means to be in this group. As I've always said, it's a family and the truth is that it's very good how we're handling these days; this coexistence here in England. Tomorrow we have another tough test, but we are looking forward to keep competing, to keep improving and growing as a group.
“I feel very good. I feel at home with my team-mates as always. I've arrived at this pre-season very well. Both physically and mentally I feel very comfortable, working very hard as we are all doing to get ready as soon as possible for when the league starts.”