Neil McDonald On Another Away Win

Last updated : 07 April 2007 By Thetashkentterror

Blues manager Neil McDonald
United boss Neil McDonald spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey on Saturday evening as he gave his opinion on the excellent 2-0 win at Port Vale. McDonald talking about the need for his players to try to keep their feet on the ground :


" We're very, very pleased with the performance, I thought we were quite comfortable in the first-half. We expect our centre-forwards to try to score and it's great that Danny Graham has scored in the first-half which is excellent, it settled everything down. In the second-half we rode our luck a little bit towards the end, we've had a sending-off again which is baffling me to be fair, two tackles and you get sent off now.

" We've rode our luck, they've missed a couple of chances but our goalkeeper behind the back-four has been superb as well. Then you get a strike like that which either goes in the top corner or it goes in Row Z, luckily for us it went in the top corner. It's great to win, it's great to keep another clean sheet again and it's great to keep the pressure on everybody.

" He (James Krause) has taken a whack on it, to be fair I was going to change it as well because they were going a little bit longer. I wanted a little bit more height and a little bit more physical presence in the back-four to try to starve them off as they have gone three upfront as well, so I was going to change it. James has had his hands full with the right-winger, I thought he did OK which is pleasing, which is excellent. We're trying to be hard to beat, the lads have got the bit between their teeth and they don't want to concede, it's fantastic to watch.

" The second goal was brilliant, it's a little bit of individual stuff which we are looking for. As we haven't got a clue about football we're asking him to run the ball in to the corner to try to kill the time, then he sticks it in the back of the net which kills the game off, which is excellent. They've worked extremely hard today in hot conditions, that's the first time we've played in the heat for quite a while and I think it showed for both teams.

" We just have to take each game as it comes, not get too carried away, as I've said, don't get too carried away when we win - keep it on an even keel. Make sure that we rest and recuperate for Monday because that becomes another vital game because it's the next one. If we can keep on picking up points, whether it's one or three, better for three, then it makes everybody a little bit nervous because if they do slip up then they are the ones who are going to lose something. We can only gain in getting up there but it's a fantastic effort.

" We're on a run, the supporters have been with us through the thick and the thin, they've been fantastic at the end of the day. They've seen that we've gone another man down and they have got right behind their team. It's good, we talked during the week about scoring in front of them and making sure that we defend in the second-half if that is the way we are kicking. We were certainly working very, very hard to try to make them happy and hopefully they've gone home again with another win away from home.

" We're just really looking forward to the next game and it can't come quick enough. Bournemouth will be great, I'm sure with it being Easter Monday as well that there will be a big crowd in anyway. The way we are playing and the way we are scoring though means hopefully there will be a few more coming. "