Defender Sean O'Hanlon on life with United
Defender Sean O’Hanlon grabbed his first goal for the club in the victory over Brentford at the weekend so we took the opportunity to talk to him about shortly after the full time whistle had blown.
“I'm delighted to get the goal,” he said. “I've missed a couple of chances which were probably easier, so it was nice to see that one loop into the net. As a defender a clean sheet is more important than getting a goal so I'm made up to get both.”
On his blossoming partnership at the heart of the defence, he added: “Danny [Livesey] is fantastic to play alongside. He covers you and puts his body on the line, and I think we've built up quite a strong understanding.
“Robbo [Matt Robson] has been a bit of a miss for us because we know when we're under pressure we can give the ball to him and he'll get us 60 yards up the field. He was a big part of the performance because he worked back to help us out as well.”
“I'm happy to be back playing football and picking up results again,” he continued. “A few months ago I didn't have a team, and today I've scored, so I'm just grateful to be here.
“The goal has been coming. I missed an absolute sitter at Notts County so it was good to finally get one. This chance was probably the hardest I've had but it went in, so I can’t complain.
“Usually in those situations you have someone pulling your shirt, but I managed to wriggle free and get a jump at the ball. It hit the sweet part of my forehead, which is quite a large area to be fair, and it was nice to see it loop in.”
“I do back myself to get a few goals so it's been frustrating to have to wait this long,” he added. “I was really disappointed with the Notts County miss and there have been a couple of others where I felt I could have done better. Hopefully now I've got my first a few more should follow.
“I've just heard the stat about us not losing when we score first so it was important for us to get it. It gave us something to hold on to. It's a result we've felt has been coming for a while now.
“In previous games we've played well but come away with nothing, so it was good to get the three points.”
“It was a difficult couple of months for me ahead of getting the call to come here,” he admitted. “I had given myself until January and if nothing had happened by then I was just going to sign up for a local team, or something like that, just to get games.
“You can do all the running in the world but getting 90 minutes in a game is the type of fitness you need. I got the call I'd been waiting for just after Christmas and I'm just grateful to the manager for giving me this chance.
“That situation shows you how easy it is to fall out of the game so that has made me even more determined to do well here. When I went up to Scotland I thought it could be a springboard to anywhere, but it didn't work out like that. The key to personal form is being happy at the club and I'm really enjoying it here at the moment.”
Speaking about the mood in the dressing room at the moment, he said: “Even after the Walsall game last week there wasn't too much of a dip in confidence because we know we are much better than that.
“It's a lively dressing room and our problem has been inconsistency. We've proved against the top teams that we're a good side and if we can get on a run then we'll start moving up the table.”
“Tuesday night will be a different kind of test for us,” he admitted. “Doncaster have an experienced team and most of them have played at a higher level.
“We've got a tough run coming up against most of the teams in the top ten so beating Brentford has been a good start. If we’d lost this one we would have had to start looking over our shoulders again, but this means we can concentrate on pushing on.”
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