Wales C manager Mark Jones says his players gave him their all in England C defeat
Wales C manager Mark Jones. (Image: Lewis Mitchell)
Wales C manager Mark Jones hopes his side’s performance against England will give the Welsh Premier League the credit it deserves.
Wales put up a good fight but eventually fell to a 3-2 defeat at Jenner Park on Tuesday night.
Dagenham and Redbridge striker Fejiri Okenabirhie netted an impressive hat-trick for England in a closely-fought encounter.
While second-half goals from Mark Jones and Chris Venables created an exciting end to the game in Barry.
Despite falling to a defeat, Jones believes his side gave a good account of themselves against a strong England side.
“I’m a proud man. Obviously we didn’t get the result,” said Jones.
“But as a passionate Welshman, I don’t think them group of players couldn’t have given me anymore than they did.
“We went behind and England at one stage looked a real good side. We threw caution to the wind, we threw a couple of strikers on and we had a real go at them. Every one of them, they gave us everything.
“When you’re a manager, all you can expect from your players is giving your all and there’s nobody who wore that red shirt tonight that hasn’t given me their all.”
Jones feels the Welsh Premier League isn’t acknowledged as highly as it should be, and felt his side’s performance did enough to ‘shake the tree’ on the domestic game.
“I don’t think it [Welsh Premier League] gets enough credit. We’ve had teams like TNS [The New Saints] doing everything bar getting to the latter stages of Europe.
“We’ve had teams beating European teams, I can go back to when I was at Carmarthen. We were playing Copenhagen and they had seven Danish internationals, and we got beat 2-0 over two games. Then you get Newton beating teams like Valletta and you get TNS, and people are ignoring it.”
He added: “The only disappointment about today is that we didn’t get a result, but I think we’ve done enough to shake the tree and there’s nothing wrong with the Welsh Premier League. It’s just underrated.”
The Wales boss also praised his side’s approach to the clash, but paid special attention to his energetic central midfielders who both caused England problems.
“We’ve competed in Europe and people keep saying ‘we’re not getting through to the latter rounds’. When we were behind and we showed our passion and pride, we aren’t a bad outfit.”
“My two midfielders Venables and Aeron Edwards covered every blade of grass and hardly lost a tackle. They were magnificent. I don’t like to single anybody out but they gave us everything and that’s all you can ask as a manager.
“We just don’t get enough credit for the type of football this league can play. I can go to sleep tonight unhappy, but happy knowing that my players have given me everything.
“We hope to go again because the Welsh Premier League is too good not to have an international setup. That’s what we’re all about and we’ve been improving over the last 20 years.”
(Featured image: Lewis Mitchell)
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