Crawley Town keeper Corey Addai caught the attention of the footballing world with a brilliant touch and clearance as they beat MK Dons 3-0 in the first leg of their play-off semi-final first leg. They travel to Milton Keynes on Saturday as they look to secure their place in the final. Addai talks about dreaming of playing at Wembley as a kid
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00:00 Yeah
00:02 Corey thank you for joining us after Tuesday night's brilliant 3-0 victory over NK Dunnes
00:06 We've got the second leg to prepare for now. How are the lads as they prepare for that game?
00:09 Yeah, it was good
00:11 Obviously been in today. We've done a training session that technical session. So that was really good
00:16 Not too much on the legs. So obviously we're ready to go for the game done recovery yesterday
00:21 So it was in doing recovery session. All the boys came in and yeah, so it's been good so far
00:27 Yeah, Tuesday was obviously brilliant night, but I suppose the message that the gaffer gave to you is let's not get carried away
00:32 It's only halftime. We know that MK gonna come, you know flying straight at us on Saturdays
00:37 You know, they look to chase down the deficit
00:39 So I suppose where there's must be a really good feeling in the camp after a good win like that
00:44 There's also the concentration and you know, sort of keeping yourself grounded now that the job isn't finished just yet
00:49 Yeah, like we all know the job's not done. It's halftime essentially obviously with it being a two-game leg
00:55 Yeah, I think that we all know what we have to do. We have to obviously go there and play the game as if it's nil-nil still
01:02 We're gonna go there and
01:06 Hopefully we get our same performances that we did the other night and we can get over the line
01:11 It's been good. It's been good being able to come in after a 3-0 win in the first leg
01:16 That's the most perfect start you could ever ask for. So yeah, so everyone's positive
01:23 Everyone's looking forward to the game. So yeah, it's been good.
01:26 In terms of Tuesday, it looked like a really enjoyable game to play in, you know to be a part of
01:32 You know
01:32 Both sides are well known for their sort of attacking threat and how they like to play football as people call it the right way
01:37 So in terms of you, you obviously get a great view of it. You were involved in it a lot
01:41 How was it to be a part of it?
01:43 Yeah, of course
01:44 I think that League Two has obviously got a bad stigma for being a bit of a crash-band wallop league where people think it's always
01:50 about physicality and long balls and
01:53 Stuff like that. Well, obviously we played
01:57 Possession football and then can do the same. So it was a good it was a good game
02:02 I think if you watched it back, I've watched it back already. So I watched it back and I can see like
02:07 the style of play
02:09 We both knew anyways, I think both teams would have known that were both possession based teams and it would have been a game of
02:15 All on the ground playing football and obviously just said the right way. But yeah, it was amazing to play and being able to
02:22 Show, obviously with the world or whoever was watching and
02:27 That they are all playing teams in League Two. So yeah, it was good. I really enjoyed it
02:32 That was top. A lot of people from the outside would say there was a lot of pressure on the game
02:37 There was you know
02:37 a lot of factors like cameras being there being on Sky as you say
02:41 Available for the world to watch that that could have put a lot of pressure on the lads and we spoke to the gaffer afterwards
02:46 And we touched on how young the squad as a whole is a lot of them wouldn't have played
02:50 You know in front of the TV cameras before in front of sellout crowds, you know
02:53 With some of the players we saw on this year coming from non-league
02:56 But the whole squad seemed to handle themselves so well and was that even you know
03:00 Concern in the dressing room before the game or was it just a case of everyone relishing the opportunity?
03:04 for me personally
03:07 It was
03:10 I don't know my first game on Sky actually, but actually like being a player in it
03:15 So I got to speak for myself now where I felt that there was no pressure on the game
03:20 I just thought there was another game to play
03:22 Everything was normal. We prepared for the game normally how we normally would nothing changed
03:26 So everyone was in their comfort zone
03:28 No one felt out of their depth where we're doing things that are different to try and
03:32 Buy us on TV. So now we have to tell me different now. We didn't do any of that
03:36 It was straight straight to the point with everything obviously with this the coaching staff
03:40 Sports condition everything everything was actually the same to the build-up to the game as it was a normal game on Saturday or Tuesday night
03:47 in the league
03:48 Which is positive obviously makes everyone feel more at ease and takes with another thing where if you do hype up the game
03:56 I mean, oh, yes on sky. Oh, yeah, you've got to do this got to do that and you start changing
04:01 I don't know. I said but changing out the winning method. That's actually got us here. Then maybe it will start
04:08 People me getting nervous and stuff, but I thought everyone in the camp was brilliant
04:13 I know the game was rare everyone saw that the game was brilliant real top
04:16 But yeah, I was everyone's fairness. We've got to go do that again Saturday night
04:20 Yeah, is that the approach that you have to take going into the weekend?
04:23 You know almost not forgetting about the scoreline that
04:27 Taking it is just another game because if that's what you've done so well on Tuesday night. It shows that it works doesn't it?
04:32 Yeah, of course
04:34 We're doing the same again. We're doing a training week again
04:37 Exactly, I would to a normal week
04:40 in season so
04:42 Yeah, I think everyone's gonna take it as another game
04:45 That's in our minds
04:47 We're looking at as it's still no no and it's the game that we actually want to go and win because when you do go to
04:52 Wembley you have that feeling where you're on back-to-back wins and momentum, which you spoke about earlier on in the season is
04:58 Momentum is key especially at this time and the season obviously where we're coming in and it's the playoff games if you win both games
05:06 You're coming in and you're thinking yes, we've won this now that now we can kick on but if you come in and
05:12 Even if we do go through with a loss, it's still a positive positive result
05:17 But we've just lost again football and we don't want to do that. So now as a team we're looking we're ready to go
05:23 We're ready so
05:24 Looking to win that game as well. Yeah, the fans will certainly be up for it
05:27 They were on Tuesday nights pre as we touched on after game one of the best atmospheres
05:31 Certainly a lot of people would have seen here at the board for saying we've got an allocation of 2000
05:36 We're approaching, you know to the point now where we've only got sort of a few hundred tickets left
05:40 So what would your message to the fans be for this leg?
05:43 They've been brilliant the whole season. I think everyone knows that they've been brilliant all season. They supported us for everything
05:49 Even I was here last season so I know it was like last season they were brilliant then as well
05:54 They got us over that line last season and now we've given them something to cheer about this season
05:58 So just keep turning up in your numbers and keep supporting the boys
06:01 And yeah, you can be a really hard 12 man. So thank you very much for that
06:08 Corey go back to Tuesday night that infamous touch now that you took can you just talk us through that moment soon as Lee and Kelly
06:14 Hit it what went through your head?
06:16 Well, honestly, I didn't even realize that it was that special at the time
06:20 I was just like playing the ball was in the air and I just thought to myself
06:24 I just gotta get this ball on my right side so I can
06:26 I've got more time on the ball because obviously that's away from the press and then I've got then I can make a decision
06:32 I'm gonna try and play out which is obviously our style of play or if I need to
06:36 Go in behind or play a longer pass than I can because on my right foot
06:39 So that was my foot presses at the time and then obviously I just like pulled out the sky
06:44 What you doing
06:48 Strikers press me and at that moment I went when he pressed me
06:51 I was I was looking at him and I was thinking he's not gonna press me off
06:54 I've just taken a touch and he started spreading that mean I realized that he's actually close and he's gonna slide
06:59 And I think by him sliding made my decision easier. That makes it that way. I just like
07:04 Just played I didn't think about anything. I just thought there's space in behind
07:08 Like behind him obviously got that space. I know that if I take a touch there, I'm gonna be safe
07:12 So it was more about I know it looked
07:14 Quite risky, but at the time I was playing the safer option
07:19 Which doesn't actually make sense because if I kicked it, I probably would have kicked it against him and it would have been
07:23 Probably a different more difficult situation to do with than me touching a passing and playing a longer pass. So yeah
07:28 Yeah, it's good fun
07:31 When you came off the bitch and then you finally got settled down got your phone
07:35 Did you have loads of messages and that? Oh, yeah, my phone was exploding. I didn't realize that it was that
07:39 That's special I said I was just like just just playing that it's just
07:45 Something everyone knows that a strong part of my game plan on playing my feet and I'm comfortable doing that
07:51 So I think the boys obviously know the gaffer knows his style of play that we play. I've always been able to
07:57 Use my feet and be an extra man in possession. I know I take that as
08:02 It's one of my strengths and I take that
08:05 Look at and I think you know, what can I improve it? Of course, you always look to improve but
08:09 That's one of the areas where I'd say is my strongest
08:12 So yeah, but I think that's just it just happened
08:16 So going back to the actual tie
08:22 Obviously, it's only half time but you are in a great position coming into the playoffs
08:26 Crawley were seen as probably the underdogs of the four teams in there because of where they finish now
08:32 You're in this position
08:33 Is there a different car do you feel a different kind of pressure going into the second leg being free now?
08:37 I don't want to sound
08:39 arrogant or anything, but
08:42 me personally, I don't feel pressure like
08:45 It's a game of football and I've been playing football since I was 10 years old
08:51 and this is all I've ever wanted to do and
08:53 These are the moments you live for you go home and you've been in positions where boys like myself
09:00 Been in positions where you don't have a club and you don't or you don't have you don't you don't get any game time
09:08 You don't have a contract the next season you're worried and you don't know what's going on
09:12 But that's the downside of football. This is the upside of football you want to play for
09:18 You want to play for promotions you want to play games at good stadiums like MK or
09:24 Like you want to these are the games you want to play you want to get to Wembley
09:28 That's the dream especially for me as a boy being from London
09:32 That's like the biggest that's the biggest stadium in the country everyone everyone dreams to play at Wembley and play under the arch
09:38 I mean
09:39 so
09:39 especially like growing up as a kid and I grew up in Hackney and a lot of a
09:44 Lot of pitches in Hackney like AstroTurf and stuff are based actually based on Wembley
09:48 So like everyone all the pitch markings and the size of the pitch is all that
09:52 Oh, yeah, because England stadium is like this we have to make our AstroTurf like this or our pitch like this
09:58 Grassroot level so growing up. I've always been around
10:01 that stigma of our yeah, Wembley is the
10:04 Though the top like the cream basically the top of it and like I've always wanted to play there. So I
10:11 Don't feel any pressure in terms of actually getting there
10:14 I just want to get there now and I think we're in a really really good position and I know that we as a team collective
10:20 Everyone I know that we can do it. Brilliant. Thank you very much Corey. Cheers