New Zealand international Nik Tzanev is back to his best, having yet to concede a goal since the start of the League Two season.
In fact, it’s now three clean sheets in a row for our number one, if you include our last pre-season friendly against League One Oxford United as well as shut outs against Gillingham and Saturday’s goalless draw at Hartlepool United.
“I was happy to contribute to the team as always and also it was a really good team performance to get that clean sheet,” said Tans after keeping the hosts out in the second half, on the way to earning us another point.
“It’s a tough place to come. I think the boys dug in really hard, it’s just that the pitch was a little bit sticky what with the dryness and we couldn’t get our crisp passing in, as we usually do. But to come away with a clean sheet – we’re all happy."
“We stayed strong throughout the game," said Nik. "We didn’t let anything on the pitch affect us. We had our spells and Hartlepool had theirs, so it about staying strong, staying together and that’s the main thing for us.
“Especially away from home - when you come to places like this – quite far away. The thing is building our experience as a team as well, because we’re still fairly young. It’s building the team morale around that and being able to continue pushing when the going gets tough.”
Tans, having risen to the challenge for the position from Nathan Broome, helped significantly - as we came away with something from Hartlepool for the first time since we returned to the Football League.
“I have a really good relationship with Alex Pearce and Chris Gunter, since they’ve come in,” said Tans. “I’ve always had that with Will Nightingale and Lee Brown too. I think it shows in the performances. I know we’ve only had two competitive games, but to not concede for 180 minutes - if you include the Oxford game - is a good way to go.”
You can see the full post-match interview with Nik Tzanev below, via the link to our official YouTube channel.