Manager Greg Abbott on the Brentford victory
United manager Greg Abbott gave us his reaction to the 2-0 victory over Brentford on Saturday.
“It’s probably the best result we’ve had since I’ve been manager of this club,” he said. “When you look at the circumstances and the quality of their team then you have to say we have done really well to keep them as quiet as we did.
“We’ve worked unbelievably hard and we have seen young players do a real job against experienced men. Brentford are a really strong team so the performance today, particularly in keeping them away from our goal, has been a good one.”
“We warned the lads at half time that they were going to have to play even better than they had been if they wanted to get a result,” he continued. “Brad [Potts] grew into the game and Mark [Beck] has outshone everyone as a 19-year-old.
“He played up front on his own and it was a magnificent achievement for him. I hope people go away from here feeling the future is going to be good for this club. These young lads are only going to get better and better and that’s great for all of us.”
“It was never going to be easy and I thought we were under a bit of pressure at the start,” he conceded. “They were on top territorially but, in terms of chances, we created much better. I’ve said a number of times that it’s a first goal league and you tend to find that teams grow in stature when they score. Goals are fantastic whenever they’re scored, but we got one either side of half time and there’s no doubt that helped to calm things down even more.”
“It’s the most pleased and proud I’ve felt after a game and that comes down to the situation and the performance,” he said. “That includes the cup finals and all of the other drama we have had. This was a result which was for the football club and for the fans, and it was fantastic to see everybody clapping at the end. That’s what we all want and fair to play them, because they all stood and waited so that they could applaud all of our players off.”
“It’s a result which leaves me with a good feeling,” he admitted. “I’ve worked hard this week on one or two situations, so it’s nice when things come together. This football club belongs to the fans and we wanted it for them as well. I’m also pleased for the players because they have deserved better results than they’ve been getting. None of them shirked anything in this one and they got their reward.
“Defensively we were really solid and the lads earned that clean sheet. It was as good as we’ve seen against strikers who have scored goals all season. The partnership between Danny [Livesey] and Sean [O’Hanlon] has grown and it looks like we’ve managed to stop the annoying soft goals from going in. There’s stuff to be worked on but we’re definitely getting there. When you have that kind of 'defend-at-all-costs' mentality it gives you a platform to build from. The work with the back four over the last month or so has paid off and they can take a huge pat on the back for that.”
“The result was important for all of us,” he insisted. “That’s the staff and players, because everything you believe in and work for needs a reward every now and then. We all go away feeling happy because it has worked out that way for us.
“We all want to see some real positivity around the place as we go into these last nine games. This is a really tough industry at the moment but we’re going to come out of the other side of all of this a much better club.
“We don’t like bad performances and hopefully this is an example of something we can all enjoy, and we can take it forward from here. I agree with all of the criticism we’ve had because we are having a season of real mediocrity. We’ve learned a lot from it though and we know we’re going to be stronger for what we’ve had to go through.”
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