Glyn Hodges praised the reaction shown by his players today, but our manager said that the squad must keep battling for League One survival.
A combination of Wimbledon's 0-0 draw and results elswhere put us in a stronger position in the table, but after being a part of the Great Escape last season, Glyn is taking nothing for granted.
“We can’t rely on other teams, it’s in our own hands and we have to make sure we do what’s required," said Glyn. "There’s an eight-point gap now, but last season we were effectively 10 points behind. Anything can happen, football is a funny old game. All we can do is take care of business and not worry about looking down. We are a point closer to Rochdale, so we are looking to get up the league, rather than looking over our shoulders.
“I had said that the midweek game wasn’t like us, and we had to get a response. I’m not saying it won’t happen again, but we know what we have to do and how to go about things. We just wanted a bit more play today and to get something for our good play, which we didn’t, but the games from now until the end of the season are all going to be tough."
Speaking about today's performance, Glyn praised the response from his players after the difficult midweek match at Oxford.
“I felt that we came out of the blocks well and we were on the front foot. We caused them problems and when you are on top you hope to get a goal, but credit to them as they got back into it and the momentum shifted a little bit. To get a clean sheet after the five goals that we conceded at Oxford was a great response. We are not going to have games are own way and we had to withstand some pressure, but we hope to cause teams problems. We did that today and we had chances. The keeper made a good save from Adam Roscrow, I thought that Jack Rudoni got brought down in the box for a penalty and we had chances in there, but I think the conditions ruined it for the teams. All the problems and mistakes were partly down to the gusts of wind. In the conditions, I felt that it was a fair point.
“The corners could have been better, the free-kicks could have been better. Pigs had a chance with his left foot and you’ve got to work the keeper there. Some of the corners and free-kicks were put in the box, but the ball didn’t drop for us. We are putting quality balls in there. We had Luke with his crosses in from the right and he’s been really strong for us this season, and it just needed a little touch to finish it off. We asked enough questions and they did what I asked them to do, but it was just not our day to get on the scoresheet."
Substitute Adam Roscrow came on and made a positive impact in the second-half, but Glyn said that he's had to be careful with the striker after his injury problems this season.
“Adam came back from injury and he only played 45 minutes before injuring his thigh again. Kwesi has played two halves now, so it’s like a bit of a pre-season for them. They’ve been out for a long time and now we are trying to get them fit. We are doing extra work with them. I asked Kwesi to blast away for 65 minutes and I said to Adam that he was going to get the next 25 minutes. It’s the only way we can do it to get them match-fit. Kwesi started off well and then I thought Adam came on and contributed as well. There’s a game on Tuesday and one of them will probably play in that, but other than that this is the way we are going to get them up to match fitness.”