Keith Curle with reaction to the Barnet away game
Manager Keith Curle gave us his reaction to the away victory at Barnet shortly after full time on Saturday afternoon.
“The players rightly got the accolades and pats on the back from the performance on Tuesday against Derby when I felt they went out and showed exactly what we’re trying to build at the football club,” he said. “The important thing is to have the mental toughness you need to make sure you go out and perform again in your next game after something like that.
“Looking back to Liverpool last season, there was a bit of a hangover from how we played there when we got beat at home against Newport the following weekend. I didn’t want that to happen again this time round, so I kept nudging the players and reminding them they had to be strong.
“Coming into a game like this we had to pick the right times to play our football with an understanding that sometimes we were going to have to play League Two stuff as well. That means you get the ball into difficult areas for the opposition to deal with as quickly as possible.”
“I thought we caused Barnet a lot of problems in the first half,” he continued. “There was a willingness to play good football and I thought the second half was where we needed to be a bit more League Two. Allied to that we wanted to keep a clean sheet, because we know that by doing that it can win you games.
“Should we be scoring more goals with the way we’re playing? Every week I want to win games and score more goals - it’s as simple as that. I think goals are coming because we have a style of play developing here which the players enjoy.
“We’ve added new players to the mix and we’re getting ourselves a style which suits us. There are some lads who haven’t been used much yet and they are also going to add new dimensions.
“Shaun Brisley and Russ Penn got an introduction today, and we had Patrick Brough and Dave Atkinson who missed out. Let me tell you, they are all very good players. That shows where we are, and where we want to get to, because we still want to add even more.”
Speaking more about the clean sheet, he said: “When we analysed Barnet we knew there would be a point when we would have to stand up to them. I thought we dealt with them fantastically well and they looked a bit nervous of us in the first half.
“Martin [Allen] clearly had words and we had to deal with what his team can do after the break. That isn’t easy, but we stuck together and we got it done. We kept our unbeaten run going and we have good foundations in place. A lot of hard work has been done to turn this club round and we want that momentum to continue.”
On the support from the away fans, he said: “We knew we were faced by a bank of four away games, but we also knew we’d maintain a good level of support away from home. They don’t only clap when we’re doing well. When the going gets tough they get louder. That is very much appreciated.
“It’s massive because I think there’s been a lot of controversy at this club and it’s taken a while to get heads turned back to looking at the football. The pleasing thing is that lots of people are getting lots of rewards because the players are delivering on the pitch.
“What we have now is that we don’t like getting beat home or away. We try to include performance levels individually and collectively in what we ask for from the group and we believe that if they keep improving the results and wins will come.
“The players have deserved three points from a game they’ve dominated this season. We’ve had that dominance in other games but we haven’t turned it into three points. We’ve had to work hard against Barnet, but we’ve got the reward, and that’s something we can all be pleased about.”
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