INTERVIEW: On another night you win a game like that comfortably

“I thought the lads played really well and we created a lot of chances,” he said. “We’ve had shots and headers go just wide and we hit the bar three times. On another night you win a game like that comfortably.

“We made it difficult for ourselves by conceding on the counter attack, but it was good to get something from the game in the end. It’s always nice to score and as soon as I saw the ball going towards Charlie Wyke I knew he’d get his body in the way.

“I decided to get after it because anything can happen once you do that. Fortunately it hit me and went in. It’s good to show the manager you’re ready with something like that because if you look at the quality of the squad you can see nobody is guaranteed a place.

“You have to treat every day as a working day. You have to perform on the training pitch and then take it out on the opposition when you do get your chance.”

“I actually thought I’d scored a little bit earlier, but I ended up hitting the bar,” he told us. “As I say, fortunately I got the goal in the end anyway because that was a game we didn’t deserve to lose.

“When we got into the dressing room at full time we were obviously pleased we’d got the equaliser but we weren’t happy we hadn’t managed to get all three points. We felt that we were good enough to have done the job so there was a level of disappointment.

“The good thing is that we played some excellent football. It only became difficult because we didn’t manage to get the first goal, but we showed great character and we got it over the line eventually. 

“Tomorrow’s a new day, as they say, so we take the fact we didn’t win on the chin and make sure we learn from it. Confidence is still very high and it’s a great set of lads. We think we can do well this season. 

“For a League Two squad it’s full of character and ability, and players who have been there and done it. There’s real team spirit and we’ll keep pushing each other to the end.”

On being patient as he waits to come back into the starting eleven, he said: “The team is playing well and all you can do is show that you’re ready for the next game, if you’re needed.

“If you do come on you have to make an impact. That’s why it was nice for me to get onto the score sheet on a personal note. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to do the same again on Saturday.

“If we go to Cambridge and get three points then it will make what we did against Cheltenham into a good point. It was a competitive game down there last year and it’ll be no different this time. We have to go there to try and impose ourselves.

“The games are coming thick and fast and none of them are easy at this level. We need to keep this standard up and see where it takes us.”