ReactionHarvey Elliott on Fulham fight, Reds determination, squad mentality and more
Arne Slot’s team were forced to play the majority of the game with 10 men at Anfield following the dismissal of Andy Robertson in the 17th minute.
Andreas Pereira had already put the visitors in front in the Premier League clash, before the Reds responded to level after the half-time interval via Cody Gakpo.
Substitute Rodrigo Muniz gave Fulham a second lead on 76 minutes, yet the returning Diogo Jota stepped off the bench and produced a clinical finish late on to earn a point.
“It was a very interesting game,” Elliott told Liverpoolfc.com post-match. “Everything that could happen in football happened. Once again [we showed] the fight, the grit and the determination to not give up in difficult circumstances.
“As a team, the stadium… we all came together, we dug deep, and we could have won it as well. But a draw is better than a loss. We wanted the three points, but we just have to keep moving on and keep working.”
Read on for the rest of our post-match interview with the No.19…
On the ‘elite’ mentality in the dressing room to come back twice despite being a man down…
If we want to go far this season this is what we need to do. When times are tough we need to show as a team and as a club that we are going to fight for everything and I think today was a prime example of that. But at the same time, we don’t want to be losing and we don’t want to have to do this. As I said, in football these things can happen but it’s about how we respond and how we fight as a team.
On whether you can prepare in training for those types of situations…
Nothing can prepare you for that, to be honest. It’s a tough situation and I think it’s just how you deal with it on the pitch. It has happened to us before and we have been in these situations, if you look at last season at Newcastle away we dug deep and got the win. We’ve all been there. We are all experienced players and it’s about dealing with it on the pitch.
It’s just to keep doing what we are doing and we have a game plan for a reason. Whether we have 11 men or one person on the pitch, it might be a lot harder, but you just have to stick to it and trust the plan. I think that’s what we’ve done today coming from behind. Especially when we were losing, to get the draw and as much as we want to win, I think we should be proud of ourselves.
On getting vital minutes himself and the return of Jota…
It’s just about waiting for your time. We are a squad and we are a team and some games you might not be needed. But, for example like today, players are needed like Jots coming back from injury and he got our equaliser. We all have to be ready and prepared to come on and impact the game, impact the team. We are all together as one, we are a squad and we are going to need everyone.
On earning a point that could prove vital later in the season…
Absolutely. A draw is better than a loss, it’s another point on the board and we’ve got to keep pushing and keep going and take what we learned from today and keep taking it into the next games. Who knows at the end of the season – it might be vital.