Fleetwood Town head coach Joey Barton spoke to the media after his sides 3-2 win over Rochdale on Boxing Day.
The Cod Army had to come from behind twice in this one, with Aaron Wilbraham scoring one for the hosts in each half.
Fleetwood did not give up and responded at every given opportunity, with Paddy Madden, Kyle Dempsey and Wes Burns getting on the score sheet for the visitors.
Here is what Barton had to say after the match…
On the game…
“Boxing day always throws up a wonderful ray of results, and performances.
“This was a cracker, you couldn’t take your eyes off the game. We didn’t think it would be the game that we envisioned, but thankfully, we have come out on the right side of it.
“I am very happy with the three points and it builds off a very good performance at Rotherham, last time out as well. In the first half, we just camped in their half, and we played lots of the best stuff. We thought that we had an absolute stonewall penalty which wasn’t given.
“We showed a different side of how to win. We had to come from behind a couple of times in the game, and showed great character and endeavour to win a game.
“Thankfully for us we get to go back to Highbury with three points before a tough run of fixtures for us.”
On the super subs…
“Demps (Dempsey) was touch and go for the game. He pulled out of training on Christmas Eve because he was in so much pain.
“It wasn’t anything serious, it is just a bruise on his fat pad, and one of those when you just need a week’s worth of rest, and we didn’t want to have Kyle in from the start today, but we knew he would make an impact later on if brought on.
“We knew that if Wes and Kyle could come in and give us minutes, it would be at he back end of the game. The way the game went, it looked like the right call. Kyle has been superb for us, and he’s one of the first names on the team sheet.
“It makes me look like a genius as a manager, but trust me, it wasn’t how I saw the game panning out. I thought that we would have a lot more of control in the first half and that it would be a comfortable afternoon for us.”
On preparation for Bristol Rovers…
“We are heading into a recovery phase now. This is probably the busiest part of the season with the fixture build up, but the lads know that our Christmas and New Year isn’t until the end of the season.
“It would be nice to finish of the year on a high with a win against Bristol Rovers. Our fans deserve it – we know it will be a tough fixture.
“I know they [Bristol Rovers] have changed manager, and Graham [Coughlan] did a good job there, but we know the new guy will come in and get them organised.”