Paris Maghoma played through the pain barrier to help us achieve our third league win of the season on Saturday.
The influential midfielder, on a season-long loan from Premier League Brentford, was limping after another eye-catching performance for the Dons, but it didn’t stop him enjoying the much-needed victory versus Colchester.
“At the end of the day, you’ve just got to keep going,” said Paris. “You’ve got to have a big heart and show big desire and passion because from the first minute I was hurting.
“You’re playing for thousands of fans, you’re playing for your family, your friends, and your career – so you’ve just got to work through that. When you can’t give anymore, you know that there’s someone else who can fill in and put in 100 per cent as well.
“It feels great, absolutely brilliant to get the win under our belts. We’ve got to give credit to ourselves. The boys worked extremely hard, we showed passion, heart and what it means to play for this football club. The fans were behind us from the beginning. It was good that we gave them the win – they deserve it and so do we.
“We will go back in on Monday morning and have a debrief. We talk as a team and see what we can improve upon, what we can do better and try and implement that at Walsall next Saturday. I think now, as a group, we’re starting to come together a little bit more, which is reflected out on the pitch.”
Paris recognised the contributions made by all of his team-mates and in particular goalkeeper Nik Tzanev and front men Ayoub Assal and Josh Davison, who bagged another brace.
“The save from Tans at the end kept us in there,” said Paris. “He was excellent all game. He’s pulled off a worldy of a save – particularly coming off the back of Bradford, where we conceded at the end of that game.
“Josh has been excellent on and off the pitch. Everyone can see that he works hard. I’m very happy that he got his two goals because he deserves that as well. Ayoub worked his socks off too. Considering his height, he was fighting against their giant centre-half, and he was getting the better of him all game.”
Paris has also been getting creative off the pitch, as well as on it, with his own YouTube channel: “As a footballer, you get a lot of spare time,” he said. “You get home in the afternoon and then for the rest of the day you’re not really doing anything, and I like gaming and being with my friends.
“I’ve got a photographer to film around my everyday life. It’s about showing my journey to everyone else and the ups and downs that come with it. There’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice that goes behind what I’m trying to achieve. You’ve got to go through pain to get some success.”
Photos: Ian Stephen (Pro Sports Images).
You can see the full interview with Paris Maghoma below, via the link to our YouTube channel.