Head coach Joey Barton spoke to the club after his side beat Port Vale 2-1 in the Carabao Cup second round at Highbury Stadium on Tuesday Night.
Barton – who has guided his side to their fourth consecutive win – watched on as Paddy Madden and Josh Morris scored either side of the half to secure Town’s spot in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
The head coach spoke after the game and here is what he had to say:
On the result…
“You could tell by the team selection we were serious about progressing in the competition. Everton and Salford play tomorrow night so we watch that with a bit more interest that we’re in the hat for the third round.
“Winning at home I think is important - I think we’ve lost two games in the last 23 competitive fixtures, so the lads are on a good run.
“They’ve got that winning feeling, that winning profile which is tough to get as a football team and once you get it it’s important that you work incredibly hard to keep it.”
On the team’s induvidual performance…
“He [Paddy Madden] always scores doesn’t he! Me and Josh [Morris] have been having a couple of discussions this week about him getting into those kind of goalscoring positions late in a game and putting them away and I was really pleased to see it hit the back of the net.
“I thought it was a lovely strike and his performance was worthy of a goal, I thought he [Morris] was excellent tonight, he made some incredible runs, makes a great run and a header back for the first goal and that will go unnoticed because everyone will see the Madden finish and the Ched pull back but Josh’s movement for that goal, in particular, was exceptional, so really pleased.
“We managed to get young Jay Matete on the pitch again who I thought did excellent, that’s two little cameos from him and he’s shown his quality. I thought James Hill and Sam Stubbs again, as a young defensive pairing, 18 and 21 years of age - I thought they were superb.”
On the side’s character…
“No matter what eleven we put on the pitch or what substitutes we make, for me, the character of the group shines through and I thought today we probably should have won the tie by a bit more and I keep saying that.”
“We were the same on Saturday, we’ve got to be very, very clinical with some of the chances that we’re going to start creating and we have been creating because whilst it’s always one-nil, cup football always gives the opponents an opportunity.
“To be fair to them they started brightly in the second half, put us under pressure, scored, but then I think the quality, and it’s a good goal from Josh, and I think Harvey Saunders, the one that hits the bar and a couple of other moments, but really pleased.”
Watch Joey’s interview on our iFollow HERE.