Alexander McQueen on the Accrington game
Defender Alexander McQueen spoke to us shortly after the 2-0 victory over Accrington at Brunton Park on Saturday."I've been working hard in training so it was great for me to get back out there," he told us. "To be involved and get the three points and a clean sheet has made me really happy.
"The clean sheet is really important for the lads. We've been doing some defensive drills in training so it was brilliant to see it come off in the game."
"It's always nice to score early and I think it really set the tone and it helped us to push on," he added. "I think the win was important because we aren't too far away from Accrington. We've got games in hand and we need to win those to make sure we get back to where we want to be in the table.
"It's good having games in hand but we need to make sure we make the most of them and get the points to get us back into the play-offs. Getting promoted is the ultimate aim for the season."
"It was important for us to come back and put a performance like that in after the Everton game," he agreed. "I think everyone was expecting us to be a bit down, but the boys did really well and we showed everyone we're still here and we're still fighting.
"We've got such a good team that we seem to be able to pull together when we need to. There's a real competition for places and anyone can take your place at any time. I've got my chance in this one and hopefully I can keep my place for the games to come. It was a good team performance and getting a clean sheet as a defender always helps.
"I just want to keep showing the manager what I can do and hopefully play as many games as I can between now and the end of the season."
On his first half cross which rattled against the woodwork, he told us: "I definitely meant it as a shot! I'm just going to stick with that version of events. I had a look, saw the keeper off his line and thought I could just chip it over him.
"I'm joking, it was a cross, but I would have taken it if it had gone in! When it hit my foot I thought 'oh no, that's gone wrong.' Then it kept going and I was like 'oh I've got a chance here!' Then it hit the post."
On adapting to League Two football, he said: "I think I'm starting to adapt to the physical side of the game more and I'm starting to enjoy it more as well.
"Even though there wasn't as many fans as last week the atmosphere was still great. I think between ourselves and the fans we helped each other along so it was another good day for us."
"Overall the game was a battle so we're really happy to have won it," he admitted. "I think there's a bit of relief because we've got the points on the table, it's another step and we want to keep climbing until we get back up there.
"I wouldn't say the cup run has been a distraction because it's always nice to play big teams. It means you can see how good their players are and see where you need to get to on a footballing level. That's all out the way now so we're just focused on getting promoted.
"This is a massive month because we've got a lot of games coming up in a short space of time. We want to win all the games in hand and if we do that we'll be up there in the automatic promotion places. That has to be our aim."
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