Acting Head Coach of FC Astana Paul Ashworth commented on the match of the 2^nd Qualifying Round of the Europa League against FC Buducnost (0:1), a correspondent of KazFootball.kz reports:

- Firstly, I want to congratulate FC Buducnost, they played well. We had a very bad first half. In the second half, we played with great desire. At the moment I am the Head Coach, and I take all the blame. My job is to prepare the players, and in the first half they were not psychologically ready. In the second half it was better, but it was too late already. There were many opportunities, but there was not enough concentration to implement them. Moments like these decide whether a team is playing in the Europa League or not.

- Marin Tomasov strengthened the game in the second half. Do you think it was a mistake that he did not appear in the first eleven?

- Of course, if we lost, then every decision can be considered as a mistake. Tomasov entered the game well, played almost the entire half and had many opportunities. You’re in a better position to judge if you think this is a mistake. If he took the field and scored a goal, you would say that this is the right decision. In the first half, the opponent had more ball possession. I do not believe that we would have had more chances if he took the field from the first minutes. It’s difficult to tell if this is a mistake or not.

- How did it happen that the team with a smaller budget had more ball possession in the first half?

- I think that our players are very afraid of this situation. I do not know why it is so. They are afraid to play their game from the first minute. The budget does not affect the game in any way, because last year we won Manchester United. We started playing only from the 45^th minute, we didn’t score our opportunities and it was already too late.

- Is the team ready to rehabilitate itself in front of the fans and try to win the Championship?

- You ask me about this half an hour after this important match. We must be ready. Now I want to see the reaction of the team. Whether I stay at the club or not, the team has to give a strong feedback. If the reaction is not good, then we will not be champions. They have to put themselves in a mood to fight in every match until the end of the year.

- Today’s match was radically different from the matches against FC Taraz and FC Ordabasy. Is this connected with the fact that FC Astana played for the first time at the Central Stadium?

- No, that’s not the reason. We played against a stronger opponent in European Competitions, the champion of its country. Perhaps this is a psychological moment that we were afraid to lose. In my opinion, we lacked confidence. But I am the Head Coach, and I have to notice such moments in advance. We were afraid to play our game from the first minutes.

- It’s strange to hear about psychological problems from a team that competes in European Competitions every year.

- You know, I could give many reasons: the whole world did not play football for a long time due to the Coronavirus, there were constant shifts of the Championship, we do not play at our stadium... But I will say that I am to blame and should be ready for such a situation.

- What caused the substitution of Dmitriy Shomko to Abzal Beisebekov?

- Dima was injured. Now I don’t know how serious he is. This will be known after the match. In the 35^th minute, he already got this injury. During the break, I told him well done, he always plays to the end, like no one else, but perhaps his injury is serious, so I told him about the substitution.

- The last couple of seasons performances in European Competitions can be called the worst in history. What solution do you see as a manager? Is it worth rebuilding the team by letting go of some of the leaders?

- It is difficult to answer this question. Now I am the Head Coach and I have to build this team. This squad will remain until the end of the season anyway. I believe that they will fight for the championship. What happens at the end of the season depends on our result in the Championship. Now is not time to talk about it. We’ll talk at the end of the season.