Saturday’s away game at Forest Green brought a return to the starting line up for midfielder Mike Jones, and he slotted back in at the heart of the team to excellent effect as he both broke up the opposition play and became the focal point whenever the Blues had possession.
And United boss Steven Pressley was full of praise as he confirmed that the attitude shown by the experienced player was an example to every member of the squad.
“Make no mistake, Mike Jones was excellent, and it was good to see,” he said. “He’s actually been in my office over the last few weeks because he’s been desperate to play. I really like that in a player, I don’t mind it at all, and we had a good chat about a number of things.
“I spoke to him last Monday and I told him that opportunities sometimes come when you least expect them, and you’ve got to be ready for them. To be fair to him, he’s trained unbelievably well since I came to the club, nobody has trained better than he has, and that’s why he was able to slot in so well. That’s a real credit to him.
“It’s a message to all of the players because you have to grasp your chance if it comes. If you’re out of the team you have to be ready, because you’ll have an important job to do if you’re called upon.
“I’m chuffed to bits for Jona because he’s a really good person and he’s a player with a really good attitude."
And on the return to the right back position for Gary Miller, he said: “Gary had a very solid game which, again, is what you would expect.
“It’s good to have players in positions where you can change things around a bit. Gary Liddle is a player I knew a lot about prior to coming here and he is extremely reliable in how he does things.
“He’s had an indifferent two or three games and I felt it was probably the right time to change things in that area. In terms of the other side of the defence, I thought Danny Grainger gave his best 90 minutes for some time. He was excellent, but we were actually very efficient as a team.”
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