Glyn Hodges was pleased to come through a third match in just six days by making FA Cup progress at Barrow last night.
Speaking after the 4-2 win on penalties, our manager said: "We knew it was going to be tough. It was a tough ask for both teams to play Saturday, Tuesday, then to go again tonight. We started well and had chances to go ahead, but credit to them as they stayed in it and caused us problems. It was a hard-fought game. We had clear-cut chances and because we didn’t score we got a bit anxious. I am so pleased that we’ve come through a difficult tie.
“The boys have been on the road a long time, but you have to get on with it. They’ve stayed in different hotels and had a lot of travelling. The club have been brilliant in sorting out an overnight stay, and that’s the best way to recover."
Glyn made eight changes to his starting line-up last night and Jack Rudoni and Nik Tzanev emerged as key contributors to FA Cup progress.
“Credit to Jack as he hasn’t played that much football," added Glyn. "He has ended up playing for 90 minutes and extra-time on top of that, before putting that penalty away with aplomb. Credit to Jack, but also to the other boys too as they stuck at it. There were a lot of tired legs out there and you could see that when Jack scored the winning penalty as they didn’t really have the energy to celebrate like they do on telly!
“Nik didn’t have too much to do in the first-half, but then he got a bit busier. Again, he hasn’t played a lot of football, and it’s quite hard to step into a game at this level without having the minutes under your belt, especially for a keeper. That first save he made (in the penalty shoot out) was key as it put them under pressure. It was an uphill battle for them after that and I thought our penalties were as good as I’ve seen."
Click on the link below to watch Rob Cornell's full interview with Glyn.