Macca On A Well Earned Three Points

Last updated : 31 March 2007 By Thetashkentterror

Blues manager Neil McDonald
United boss Neil McDonald spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Friday night as he gave his opinion on the excellent 2-0 win at Tranmere. McDonald talking about trying to keep the pressure off the players and the excellent support from the travelling Blue Army :


" I'm very proud indeed, I think we've shown two parts of our game. One - certainly counter-attacking and putting the ball in the back of the net, and two - putting our bodies on the line to defend, and that includes the front two. When we haven't got the ball they are the first line of defence and everybody is very happy and very, very proud of the performance. I thought that they didn't really create that many chances which is excellent, and they've got a really good home record to be fair.

" The character of the side is excellent, we're trying to play with a little bit of free spirit because I think we've done enough to stay in the league hopefully by now. That's goal number one, now we move on to goal number two which is that we've given ourselves one hell of a chance to get there (the play-offs). I think it's more pressure on everybody now, everybody seems to be playing each other now at the moment so if there are any slip ups, but we just have to concentrate on our own game, and our own game today was fantastic.

" Football is simple, we do work at set-plays and the first goal was a set-play to be fair, with the throw-ins and corners and free-kicks. It's always nice to score first, which we haven't done for a while but over the last two or three games we've got in front and that gives us something to hold onto. At the same time though we certainly weren't satisfied with one, we wanted the second one to kill the game off and we eventually got that.

" He (Keiren Westwood) is in good form, and the defence is in good form as well. We've had a little bit of luck and have cleared a couple off the line, but guess what? ; they are in the right position and that's where they are supposed to be so we take heart from that as well. All-in-all though I think it's a fantastic result for the football club and it gives us a chance.

" On the second goal, we were all shouting when he (Danny Graham) was going down the line 'square it, square it' and it's always nice to see the ball hit the back of the net. That gave us one chance of making one mistake if they score, but luckily we didn't do that. We've defended our goal with our lives and we've thoroughly deserved another clean sheet. We've tried to stop them from playing in midfield and they've gone long, Gareth Taylor and (Chris) Greenacre are a potent threat the way they play, and I think we've handled those two very, very well. "



" It was a tackle, he (Paul Thirlwell) is committed, and the referee has deemed it to be a sending-off offence, so we'll have a look at it on the tape and I'll talk about it after that. That's the best they (the fans) have been all season, they were absolutely brilliant, I've never heard them like that. I think they are enjoying coming on their travels to watch their team, and their team is trying their damned hardest for them. It's great to see them almost singing from start to finish, that almost made it a home game, and I thank them very much for that.

" I would imagine there are very few teams that bring that many fans to an away game. It gives everybody a lift and I think it showed in the performance that first of all they were determined not to concede a goal in front of their fans. It's always nice as well to score a goal in front of our fans. It's great, the players are well happy with the support, and hopefully the supporters are well happy with their team at the moment.

" The pressure won't come on us, I'm telling you - the pressure won't come on us. We've got nothing to lose to be fair, we're in a fantastic position, the main aim was to stay up and I think we've done that very, very easily. We're competing with the top teams and let's see where it takes us. I've got to keep the pressure off our players as much as I possibly can, because I want them to enjoy themselves, I want to them attack with pace which they have done today, and I want them to stick the ball in the back of the net.

" At the same time though, what I said at the start of the season, with being a new manager, I want to have a team that wants to attack and score goals, and I want to have a team that is very, very difficult to beat. I think we've proved that because we have kept another clean sheet. We've come to the bridge a couple of times this season and had a chance to get close and we haven't really got there, this is the first time we've crossed the bridge.

" We're all watching games tomorrow, it's very important, plus we are watching players as well. The best thing is to win and then go and watch a game because everybody is very complimentary. It's fantastic to go to a game and everyone keeps on saying 'well done, well done'. We don't always need pats on the back but sometimes we do and it's nice to come away with a fantastic victory. "