REACTION: Manager on the Oldham win

Greg Abbott on the Tuesday evening victory

United manager Greg Abbott spoke to us about the 3-1 victory over Oldham on Tuesday night.

He said: “I think we deserved this one not so much because of what we did on Saturday, but for what we did tonight.

“We’ve carried on with what we did in terms of creating chances and the difference tonight is that we put them away. We scored some terrific goals in the end. We have to give credit to the spirit in this group because they didn’t let their heads drop after the Notts County game. They don’t get carried away with results and they keep producing for us, as they have again against Oldham.

“We’re pleased for Joe [Garner] because he has worked hard and he has finished off two good moves. He puts himself about and he keeps getting into the right places, and his goals will come. Mind you, we could say that he should have twelve goals from his five games rather than the four he's got for us, but he’s becoming an important player. He’s only going to get better and better as he gets more minutes on the pitch.

“You could feel everyone relax when the first goal went in and I think that was when the shackles came off a little bit. You felt then that we would get more goals and I’m delighted for everybody that it went that way for us. We wanted the clean sheet and it was a soft, soft penalty to concede. We have players who have cuts, bangs and bruises and then they go and give a penalty for something like that. There’s nothing we can do about it though and the important thing is that we got what was a comfortable win in the end.

“The Oldham staff have spoken to us and they have said that we looked a very good side in the second half. We have probably demanded more, but when someone from outside of what you’re doing comes to tell you something like that then it means you’re getting something right.

“We were really upset after that 4-0 home defeat and I think we owed it to our fans to respond. They’ve ignored the massive games on TV tonight to come out to support their local side and we thank them for that. 

“We don’t really want to single individuals out for the result because we’ve seen an excellent group performance. We’ve kept the ball moving and the quality of the deliveries has given the strikers the confidence to push on. We’ve defended as a team and we’ve worked hard in midfield to win the battles. It’s a performance we can all take confidence from.

“We’re working hard at the moment and we know we aren’t too far away. We’re doing what we’re doing with some key players missing, but that’s starting to look better for us. We just need to stick together and do the things we’re doing and, if we do that, we’re going to be in a position to take this thing on again.”

United Player subscribers can see a video interview with Greg Abbott later today. For more information on United Player, and to subscribe, click HERE.
Read Time: 3 mins