Defender Macaulay Gillesphey on a good team performance
Defender Macaulay Gillesphey gave us his reaction to his man of the match performance in the 1-0 victory over Hartlepool United on Tuesday night.
“I was pleased to get the man of the match award but I think we can say it was a team effort in that game,” he said. “Everyone played as well as each other, especially in the last 15 minutes, and I thought we dealt with everything they had to offer.
“Hartlepool came with a game plan and they’d been on a good run. For us to get the three points was massive. We played well together and we deserved the victory.”
“I had a couple of different roles to play but I’m enjoying it,” he commented. “I’ve learned a new job playing at left back and I think I’m getting better at it. It was nice to get a chance at centre half as well.
“I did well overall but I know there’s still a lot I need to improve on. I’m definitely getting more confident and it really helps when I have Danny Grainger in front of me. He talks to me about what I need to be doing and that’s brilliant for me.
“Michael Raynes is another. He talks to me on and off the pitch. He’s always giving me good information and we all get advice from the goalkeeper every time the opposition look like they’re coming at us. It’s definitely good for me to be in that kind of environment.”
“The good thing is that it feels like I’m learning all the time,” he explained. “I know the manager is going to pick the team to get points, and I won’t always be involved, but that’s football and I accept that. The important thing from every game is getting the points.
“I got the nod on Tuesday night and it was brilliant to get the assist. I saw the run Hallam [Hope] made and he was screaming at me to give it to him. I lofted it forward and it was a good finish, to be fair to him.
“Trying passes like that is more my game, especially when I’m at centre half. I like to pass it or switch it and I do try to get things moving. Getting an assist is almost as good as scoring when it comes off. I was absolutely buzzing when he put the ball away.”
“The win takes us to one point from the play-offs so it’s there for us,” he insisted. “It’s a big game on Saturday and it’s one we want to win. Everyone is confident before every game we go into and, like I say, we have Danny and Raynesy picking us up in the dressing room as well before we even go out there.
“We’re taking every game as it comes because we know we can definitely do it. There aren’t too many games left so we’ll be looking to win as many as we can. The supporters have been like our twelfth man recently and that’s helping to drive us on as well.
“Every player in that dressing room is up for it so we’ll just keep going and we’ll see where it takes us.”
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