Left back Evan Horwood typified the style of performance that was needed to get the points from a tough encounter against Southend United at Brunton Park on Saturday as he repeatedly threw his body in the way, and went in for challenges, as his side battled to gain the upper hand.

We spoke to him about the game afterwards.

He said: "That was a very physical 90 minutes, and I was tempted to throw the towel in during the second half! Seriously, though, we knew we would be faced with a game like that, and I've got a couple of dead legs to show for it at the moment."

"I think they are the biggest set of opponents that I have ever played against," he told us. "They were trying to knock me all over the place, but it was just a case of sticking with it and making sure that we got on top. That's what happened for us in the second half, with the weather on our side as well, and I think we deserved the three points in the end."

"We went behind to a goal that we weren't too pleased about," he admitted, "but there was nothing really in the game. They scored from the one chance that they created, so the gaffer told us to keep going and make sure that we took the game to them. We played much better in the second half, and we got the lift that we needed when Danny [Graham] scored the penalty."

"I was pleased to link up with Simon Hackney in the build up to Cleveland's goal," he said, "because we have been playing quite well together on the left wing this season. I haven't started as well as I would have liked, and I think that there is much more to come from me on a personal level, but together we have been doing some good things. Hopefully we will keep that going."

"I've been happy with the work I have done going forward," he explained, "but I do want to improve what I'm doing defensively. There have been a couple of occasions when I have felt that I should have done better when we haven't had the ball, but I'm sure that I will have that sorted out soon. The confidence is there right through the side, and we just want to keep this run going. There are some really tough games coming up, but none of them are easy at this level, so we'll do what we have been doing and hopefully the points will keep coming."