Forward Cian Hayes spoke to the media after scoring his first professional goal in Fleetwood Town’s narrow defeat to Oxford United at Highbury.
Hayes, who has recently represented the Republic of Ireland Under-19s, has added goals to his repertoire as he netted the first of his career as he gave Town hope for a comeback by scoring their second goal of the game.
Here’s what the youngster had to say:
On his first professional goal…
“Scoring my first professional goal is an incredible moment for me, my family, and even the club. It’s genuinely amazing, it’s a shame it had to come in a loss but I’m still really happy with it.
“I’ve been dreaming of playing professional football my entire life, so to be in this position at the age I am, with the trust and backing of the manager and everyone else has been incredible for me, I’ve loved it.
“I always love to play, to try and excite people, and to create things. I’d rather do something hard for the bigger result, rather than take the easy option in life.”
On the result…
“We didn’t start anywhere near good enough, so we had to try our absolute hardest to get back into the game and work hard and try to create anything we could, but unfortunately, we couldn’t go all the way. I am pleased with how the team did play in the final hour, but disappointing to not get a result out of it.
“The lads are still extremely confident that we’re going to stay up. We know how good we are when we play on our day and if we continue to play the way we finished the game today, we will pick up points.
“The intensity and how attacking we were, we created the chances, we just need to be able to put them away in the end.”
On the upcoming fixtures…
“Everyone needs to get themselves dirty sometimes and dig in hard. No matter how experienced my opposition is, I always back myself to beat them and I am extremely confident that I can take them on and win the duels.
“I’m incredibly confident we will stay up - I believe in all the players and the staff. The fans to help us through it and make sure we stay up at the end of the season.
“The next two games are the biggest games of the season, we need to make sure we give it our all and try everything in our power to get the wins we need to push us out of the relegation zone.”