A well-deserved three points today, Joey.
I thought so. I thought, certainly coming away from home, we were as commanding as we’ve been this season. I thought we showed a real level of maturity and we just kept improving as the game went on.
We were worthy of those three points, albeit getting that first goal was going to be key.
James Belshaw didn’t have to make a save. How defensively sound were you tonight?
Yeah, and in recent weeks we’ve been crying out for reinforcements to come back and they’ve returned and we’ve still got bodies to come back, but it was a real team performance.
Ryan Loft, I think he deserved a goal, but the next best thing of winning you a penalty tonight.
Yeah, I challenged them at half time to find another gear. We were comfortable in the game. They had periods of possession but we spoke about it in the build-up to the game in terms of coordinating our pressure and I thought the lads got better and better at that as the game went on.
Lofty and Josh Coburn were at the tip of that, but it was a real squad effort to get the job done.
And your first penalty of the season, probably the calmest you’ll see from Antony Evans. Signs there that he’s getting back to his best?
Yeah, and we made a couple of changes to freshen it up and get energy levels knowing that we would utilise the strength we’ve got on the bench and the good quality we’ve got. It was a real performance.
Evo, that will do his confidence the world of good to get on the pitch and get the winner, but when you see him stepping up to take a penalty, you always fancy him due to his quality from dead balls. I’m really pleased for him.
The travelling contingent, we probably had more fans in the stadium by the look of it, and we certainly had more noise. I’m really pleased for the Gasheads who have come out on a Tuesday night to give them back-to-back wins and a nice clean sheet to boot.
You won’t be getting carried away, but are we starting to see Rovers settling into League One you think?
Yeah, we’ve got to show a different side. You get examined from different departments in this league because there are some big clubs and good teams and you’ve got to show different ways of winning.
In my tenure here, we’ve tried to be an expansive, passing football team but sometimes, certainly when you get into these winter months, you’ve got to show a different side, a resilience, a solid chin.
James Belshaw has been superb for us but it is arguably his most quiet night since he joined the football club. Long may that continue.
One of the highlights for me was at the end with Harry Anderson playing keep ball for about two minutes.
I was winding Harry up before the game. He had a pair of new boots on, these snazzy Nike boots, and he’s the same size as me, an eight, so I was saying ‘You might as well put them in my locker, my feet will do a bit more justice to them’ and he’s gone on in second half and shown Brazilian-like skills in the corner. He must have wasted three or four minutes with his fancy footwork.
All the boys who came in – Sam Finley, Luca Hoole reinforcing that backline – I’m really pleased with every single performance tonight.
And you will look forward to Saturday when the challenge is to make it three wins on the bounce.
Yeah, it would be nice. It’s always nice to go back-to-back. It looks like a chance at Cheltenham. It will be a tough fixture, they’re scrapping away.
I haven’t seen them play recently since Michael Duff left, but we’ll get eyes on them and go there full of confidence now. We’ve got bodies returning as well so real competition for places running right throughout the team.
Could anybody be back for Saturday?
Yeah, possibly. I don’t think James Connolly will be, he’s the one who is probably a bit longer out than the others, but we might have a few different options on Saturday.
Hopefully, the lads can keep progressing and we can keep driving competition because, as you can see, it’s leading to improved performances on matchdays.
Joey, I feel like that highlighted the depth of resources you’ve got now. Before the game, you were able to make three changes without affecting the quality of the group and you can also win the game with your bench?
Yeah, and we know if we’re going to be successful this season it’s going to be a group effort. No surprises there, it was the same last year and everybody is required to play their part when tasked with it.
I think our lads were superb. We made a couple of changes today but the lads who dropped out of the starting XI, they didn’t get disappointed. They knew the reasons we were doing it and they were really positive in and around the group and, obviously, they came on and helped us finish off the game.
Antony got the winner but I think every single player who came on the pitch today, I thought they really kept the level of performance high.
Antony has had a bit of a frustrating time lately, hitting the post a couple of times and he’s not been quite at his peak levels, but he still shows the confidence and in the past two games he’s made a really big impact on back-to-back wins.
It’s a strange one. He set such a high standard last season. Every free-kick we got, you felt Evo would test the keeper, if not score.
This season, he had a bit of COVID in pre-season. He came back in such great condition, him and Aaron Collins, and I think that slightly affected him. He then lost a bit of his momentum and rhythm, but you always fancy him to come good, such is his quality, and it’s only a matter of time before the confidence starts flowing through his veins.
Hopefully, the aplomb with which he put that penalty away tonight, and his performance on Saturday, will go some way to getting him firing on all cylinders.
Ryan Loft needs to be singled out as well. Not a game where there were loads of chances for the strikers, but to have someone like that who is a nuisance to win the decisive penalty, it just shows his value.
He’s a constant menace up there, him and Josh Coburn with Azza playing off the seam of them. They had to scrap and battle for every inch, certainly in the first period.
The lads at the back, Zak Jules, Dean Lewington and the other lad who played competed. They were fighting to get points on the board and get their season going after a fantastic year last year, so we knew there was going to be no quarter given.
We were expecting a response because they lost at the weekend and they were in front of their own fans, but I thought we met the challenge head-on and for most of the game we played on the halfway line and into MK’s territory. Coming away from home, I thought it was a really professional, mature and positionally-dominant performance.
Watching from the technical area, were you surprised how much respect they gave you? You’ve spoken a few times this season about being a newly-promoted side. Before the game, this was 19th vs 22nd, so not a lot in terms of the table, but they seemed content to sit off and they’re at home. That doesn’t seem like the way they are built to play, so were you surprised by how the game developed?
Yeah, when I saw the teamsheet he obviously went for the third midfielder in there. They had been playing a 3-4-3, with three on the frontline and adventurous wing-backs.
I think he paid us the ultimate compliment. He’s watched our games against Exeter and Cambridge and they bolstered the midfield. I think they were expecting some direct play from us and they wanted to solidify the central corridor by bringing Bradley Johnson in and Matt Smith.
That left (Joshua) Kayode and (Will) Grigg up front, so I think they paid us the ultimate respect by changing shape, but again they are scratching around to get results and sometimes as a manager you try different combinations. Thankfully for us, it allowed us to assert our game on them and they were playing risky passes in and around their half and we were setting traps for them, miles away from our territory and miles away from our goal.
Belly’s had probably his quietest night in a Rovers shirt, so long may that continue.
It took 11 games for you to get your base camp at Exeter, but it feels like your season has really started now. You’ve got your players and you’re building a style. It’s different perhaps to the one people expected, but you are moving forward now after a few weeks in neutral due to the injuries?
We knew we were going to get reinforcements back and the quality of our group would come through. We’re not out of the woods, we’ve got a lot of work to do for sure, but certainly the last-minute equaliser at Exeter was a boost, but also the level of performance at Exeter.
We would have been disappointed had we not taken anything out of that game and that then built into a solid performance again in the league in another tough encounter against Cambridge. Today, even though it was 1-0 and it seemed relatively close, in terms of weight of territory, chances of scoring, you never felt they were going to lay a glove on us.
We all want a bit more quality and a bit more care, but to come away from home to a side that was challenging for promotion last season at times – I know they’ve lost Scott Twine and Harry Darling and one or two others – but you’ve still got to come here and get the game done. We would have been disappointed had we drawn it because we were so dominant, but the lads have found a key to unlock it with Lofty’s presence and a ball into the area and, obviously, the lad fouls him.
Delighted, mainly for the Gasheads. On a Tuesday night, you have to take your hat off to them. They travelled all the way across to support the boys again and that is a massive reason we got the three points. It’s nice again to score at that end and for the lads to go and celebrate with them.
I think they’re aware of the young group we’re building and we’re going to have some highs and lows, but I said to you a while back even though we weren’t getting the results we wanted, we’ve got a really good young group emerging and it would just take a bit of time to knit it in. Nothing knits it in quicker than positive performances and positive results.
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