Head coach Scott Brown spoke to the press on Sunday afternoon after his side beat Ebbsfleet United in the Second Round of the Emirates FA Cup at the Kuflink Stadium.
Town started the game strongly and eventually found their way into the lead through a swift counter-attack, started by Lewis Warrington in the midfield, and was finished off by forward Ged Garner, who calmly found the bottom right corner of the goal from outside the area.
Here’s what the gaffer had to say after the game:
On the win and the spot in the next round…
“The main thing for us today was to get through to the Third Round, we know that there are going to be upsets in this tournament and we were glad that it wasn’t us whilst live on TV. We didn’t play at our best, but we still managed to get through – sometimes you have to grind out results like that away from home.
“They were always going to throw everything at us in the last ten minutes and worked a couple of good chances. Our quality in the final third could have been better, we ended up changing the shape at half-time and it really did help us in the second half.
“Sometimes you need to settle into the game, but when we pressed in the second half, we forced them into a lot more mistakes and got a lot more control further up the park.
On the opposition and crucial moments in the game…
“They’ve had a fantastic season so far and are top of the table in their league. They are unbeaten after a run of games and have been exceptional, so it was huge for us that we started the game well – though we did in the first 10-15 minutes.
“We then took our foot off the gas a little bit, but we were more like us in the second half, the shape and structure behind the ball looked more like a Fleetwood Town team and we looked like we were going to catch them a little bit more on the counter as well.
“That block at the end is what top defenders do, they anticipate things; I think we end up ball watching at certain times, but Josh [Earl] sees how the play moves and anticipates where the ball is going to bounce, but he’s got that quality going forwards as well.”
On the fans and their influence on the team…
“It’s a long and hard journey for a lot of the fans and, to leave at that time in the morning, it means a lot to myself and the players as well. It’s a fantastic gesture from our club, who are always trying to help out the fans who help those on the pitch as much as they can.
“It’s a great start for us, we are in the Third Round now, and we need to make sure that whoever we play in the next round, we'll enjoy it – we’ll be looking forward to the draw on Monday night like all the fans will be – you never know how far we can make it in this competition.”