Ben Hamer and Yáser Asprilla spoke to watfordfc.com after the Hornets’ dramatic 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (December 23).
Despite falling behind to Adam Wharton’s early goal, the visitors struck back late thanks to close-range finishes from substitutes Mileta Rajović and Rhys Healey, securing a third consecutive away success.
Goalkeeper Hamer made a string of fine saves on his sixth appearance in a row, while Asprilla came on as a half-time sub and had a hand in the equaliser with his initial shot being parried into the path of goalscorer Rajović.
Read what the duo had to say below…
Hamer
We’re buzzing with the final result, because we got a right pasting from the gaffer at half-time! He wasn’t happy with our performance at the start at all, and we weren’t either on the pitch. It just wasn’t clicking, and it seemed like we were penned in our own box for most periods of the first half.
They scored with their first chance, and I have to hold my hands up as I was partly to blame for that. I thought it was impossible for him to score from that angle, and with the way he shaped up I thought he was going to cut the ball back. I’ve committed the cardinal sin and gambled, and he’s done me at the near post which was really disappointing.
You have to stay in the game, and re-group at half-time as best you can. It was still a tough game in the second half, and they had periods when they had opportunities, but then I think we showed our fighting spirit. Rhys Healey came on and was brilliant - he’s won a few headers he wasn’t entitled to win in the middle of the park, we’ve broken from that and we’ve scored the equaliser. Then, he got his just rewards with the winner, and all the lads were buzzing for him.
I made some decent saves in the second half, but the overriding feeling for me was disappointment with the first goal because we want to keep clean sheets and that had gone within three minutes. From there though you’ve got to stand up and keep going, and we got the result we were after in the end.
The fans were brilliant, and they were brilliant last week at Preston as well. We all appreciate the effort they’ve made coming up here two weekends in a row, so to give them that result at the end is amazing. We’re going to need them back at home for the next two games after Christmas, and during the remainder of the season.
Asprilla
I’m very happy with the result. It was disappointing to go behind, but at half-time we came together and everyone believed it was still possible to go on and win the game. When we scored the equaliser that then gave us an extra boost to get all three points.
When I was on the bench, my teammates were pushing me to make an impact when I got the chance to go on to the pitch, and I think that’s what I did.
Results like today is what we all want - the players and the management team. We just need to keep it up now. I’m very happy for the fans who travelled to support us, I hope they all enjoyed their afternoon!
