|
" I'm knaccered walking up those steps for a kick-off but I am absolutely ecstatic, unbelievable. It has been a funny old season, it has been a bit of a nightmare from start to finish. We are just overwhelmed, it is unbelievable, to be honest we thoroughly deserved it today. We came out and put on the performance of eleven men out there and thankfully we have got the result that has kept us up.
" It is a funny game, let's face it, over recent weeks, before that we have to look at ourselves and we haven't put performances in, but over recent weeks we have put in performances and we have been unlucky. The last couple of games conceding late, but today we got the goal and it just felt like our day. We were heavily on top in the first-half, should have come in more up, and we just said, like we have been saying, same again, same again.
" We came out and rolled our sleeves up, I think that they have had a couple of chances which probably if you like they could have scored. Then someone has popped up with a second goal there and we march on from there. To a man though, the lads who were involved, the lads who were on the bench, the lads who weren't on the bench, couldn't be happier for them and the staff.
" I'm stating the obvious but if we could put our finger on what the problem has been then we would have been looking to put it right if it was any one thing. I don't know, obviously early on in the season John Ward lost his job, and whenever that happens at a club things aren't going to happen straight away. Greg (Abbott) came in, we had the initial reaction, we went on a good run and then we struggled to get a few results.
" Then time ticked by, we didn't get a result and it went on and on and on, and here we were sitting 12 games was it today without a win. We hadn't had our luck but I am not going to stand here and tell you that it was down to luck. We haven't produced, we haven't played as we know we can play for the majority of the season. "
" Today was a day though where we could put the season that has gone on right in terms of staying in the league, and that is all that we wanted to do. Let's put this season to bed and crack on next year. I don't know what will happen in the close season, obviously the manager will answer that better than me. I am sure that there will be a few comings and goings but all I want to see is that I want to see that every game next season, what we have just produced today.
" The crowd was absolutely fantastic, just under 10,000, the atmosphere was unbelievable. There is nothing better, you almost feel like you have won the league in injury time there when you pretty much know that you have done it. Then the referee (Neil Swarbrick) tells you that he is going to blow up in ten seconds and you are 2-0 up, there is no better feeling I tell you.
" We had a sniff that we knew that the Leeds game was 1-0, but I think that we are one team who should know that 1-0 isn't something to hang onto as we have found out in recent weeks. Then in the second-half we heard another cheer and we got word that Leeds had gone two up, and at this time we were two up. I think that there was half an hour left so there was still a lot to do, and obviously this season we have thrown leads way, but thankfully today we have done what we haven't done in recent weeks and we got that second goal.
" Kav (Graham Kavanagh) is telling me again that his goal was better but that is a bit of old man syndrome there I think. It was just one of those, I am best shooting when I haven't got any time to think about it, if I had got time to think it about then that would have ended up in the car-park. So it just landed and I just swung a left foot at it and fortunately a few times this year they have managed to go in. Four goals this season, unbelievable, it won't happen again, I am asking John Nixon for a pay rise but I can't see it coming.
" I am not going to stand here and pretend that the season has been fantastic because it hasn't. Today though was a massive day for the football club in terms of we don't want to drop down a league, because we know how hard it is to get back out of it. So let's just go home, thanks to the players, thanks to the staff, an extra-special thanks to the fans and let's just enjoy the day, have a really good night, but let's make sure that it never happens again. "