Following tonight's 2-1 won over Clitheroe, Neil Aspin spoke to Adam Cheshire about the game and the late goal that clinched the win:
"I knew today would be a difficult game, there's no doubt about it Clitheroe are doing well and like I say it's never easy going away from home on a Tuesday night at non-league level when the lads have been to work . It's a tough game on Saturday and there are a lot of things going into the game that could prove difficult. It certainly was a difficult game but we're delighted to get the late winner."
After a subdued first half the game certainly got lively in the second half, with two penalties and two red cards:
"I actually thought that in first half we played quite well but the second half we didn't play particularly well, we fell behind but no complaints it was a penalty. We got back into it through a mistake by them and the result was their 'keeper getting sent off and the penalty for us which evened it up. We really should have gone on from there and won the game but the sending off didn't help us. It shouldn't have been a sending off, (a second bookable offence) but he played the ball and it definitely wasn't a sending off. After that it looked like we were in for a stalemate and we never really tested the 'keeper, didn't put them under enough pressure and it was going to be a frustrating night. But the late goal changed everything."
After Danny Hanford's sending off, his replacement Liam McManus was not troubled too much, until the end of the second half:
"We'd have come off at the end of the game and that would have been the main criticism, to have a substitute in that's not a goalkeeper and not to test him would have been really disappointing. We were able to get away with it tonight, but we may not be as fortunate in another game. I feel that if you look at the season as a whole the games where we've drawn, we've probably deserved to win them and tonight maybe that was one where we maybe got a break again."
With tonight's bench only having three subs, compared to their five, it was almost ironic that they had no substitute 'keeper perhaps:
"Yeah I think we've been a little bit unfortunate in that we've not been able to play a settled team because of injuries. The situation tonight, we left Ryan Crossley as late as possible but he failed a fitness test and that left us short. But obviously it's great to have a goalkeeper of Phil Senior capabilities on the bench but it was proved tonight that you sometimes do need one."
After tonight's sending off plus the build up of injuries and the suspension for Tom Baker, Neil believes that we need to expand the squad:
"There is no doubt about it we need to get some new faces in but the players we want the clubs won't let us have. We will have to bring players in even if it's just to bolster the squad, but we need new faces and we ant to get the best we can and that's something we need to do over the next week but I would like to bring somebody in before Saturday."
Town have now had five consecutive wins, with this being our second back-to-back away win since October:
"When I looked at the fixtures I knew this period, with the away games was going to be difficult. There is no doubt about it; our home form has been exceptionally good but at certain times away from home we've found it difficult and tonight was going to be one of those tough occasions. We're delighted to get the three points, and I'll sleep a lot better after getting that last goal, that's for sure."
Town's next game is AFC Fylde away, and we'll be looking for another win:
"Although sometimes you don't play well and you get the boost of a late winner, it sometimes helps in the next game so I hope that is going to give everyone a lift for Saturday."
Interview: Adam Cheshire
Write up: Katie Vass
