Defender James Hill spoke to the press after his experience marking Premier League and international forwards in Fleetwood Town’s Carabao Cup tie against Everton.
Hill – who has started in every game so far this season for the Cod Army – played in a young back three against The Blues, with Sam Stubbs and the recently-returned Morgan Boyes alongside him.
The 18-year-ols spoke after the game and here is what he had to say:
On the opposition…
“I thought it was a different test for the boys, I felt at times we dealt with it well but obviously you can tell why they’re a top side.
“I thought that it’s completely different to League One football, you can tell that they’re just much sharper, they think a lot quicker and obviously they’re clinical in front of goal. It was hard for is to keep concentrating and keep hold of the runners as well.
“A League One striker is more physical, it’s more direct balls, so you’re looking to win the headers and look for the second balls but this time it was more looking to play off the striker so it’s their one touch passing and spinning off so I think it was hard for us obviously as a three to keep hold of runners and mentally a very hard game.”
On the experience…
“I think it is a great experience for me because I’m getting that great exposure against top Premier League players and they’ve played in World Cups as well.
“I’m just coming up through the ranks; I was playing under 18s football last season as a young boy and I’m now stepping up to the men’s game and it’s a different challenge altogether and to step out onto the pitch against World Cup players and a top Premier League side, it’s another challenge.”
Hill’s take on the game…
“I think there’s parts that we take out of today’s game that are very positive like we can play and we can deal with the top players.
“We were down so I think we did well to grab two goals back and make it a close game so there’s always positives to take out of the games that we’ve had.
“We’ve had a great run at the start of the season and we’ve just got to keep that going and confidence is high with the boys and we’re looking forward to the season properly beginning.”
Watch James’ interview on our iFollow HERE.