Midfielder Jason Kennedy on his match winning goal
Midfielder Jason Kennedy spoke to us about his match winning goal shortly after full time on Monday afternoon.
“I thought we played very well overall in the game,” he said. “It was a huge lift to get the winner, particularly when we’ve been picking up draws recently. Hopefully it’ll spur the lads on to push on up the league again.
“The ball from Tom [Miller] was perfect for my goal. I didn’t have to break my stride pattern and all I had to do was make sure I hit the target. I had a quick glance up and I saw the keeper was off his line and getting himself ready to dive. That’s why I decided to chip it and guide it over him.
“It’s definitely up there as one of the best goals I’ve scored. That’s because of the goal as a whole. It was the quality of the through ball, getting on the end of it to finish it and obviously because it was the winner. That makes it extra special.
“I’ve been getting in positions in games recently but they haven’t always fallen for me or I haven’t finished them. Hopefully I’ll get a few more vital goals between now and the end of the season.”
“I’d say the win was massive,” he agreed. “We got it against a team that are up there and fighting for automatic promotion. It gives everyone a massive lift and I thought we were brilliant.
“They had to make two substitutions after 20 minutes to deal with us because they were struggling to cope with our forward players. We do like to do things the hard way but it was still an excellent performance and we got the result.
“They had some good chances but Mark [Gillespie] pulled off some great saves. He’s been doing that all season so we expect that of him.”
On his own role within the team, he said: “The manager is keen for me to get forward as much as possible. He wants me to pick and choose my runs and make sure they’re sensible, and not just for any reason.
“I think we played a lot more football and our game was about getting the ball out and getting it on the floor. It worked well and we showed we can mix our play with the likes of Charlie Wyke and Jabo Ibehre up front.
“When you consider we haven’t scored many recently it was good to take our chances against a very good team.”
And on the push for the play-offs, he said: “It feels like it’s in reach. I don’t think any of us ever thought we were out of reach, but a win like this brings the belief back that we can go on and do it.
“It was a big win for the club and the fans because it does get everyone believing again. It puts a bit of pressure on us but we’ve got to go out there and perform and take that on.
“We go to Portsmouth next and they get massive crowds. If we start well and get their fans on their backs you never know what will happen. As a player they’re the type of games you want to play in when there are 16,000 fans in the stadium. It’s something to look forward to.”
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