Manager Neil Harris and goalscorer Aiden O’Brien have both been giving their thoughts following victory over Bury at the weekend.
Making the trip to Gigg Lane for the match, a James Vaughan brace in the second half gave them the two nil lead, but a strong final 30 minutes response from the side saw goals come from Shaun Williams and Calum Butcher, and O’Brien himself won the match with his stoppage time strike.
Speaking to the official site in his own post game press conference, Harris had to hail the ‘character and desire’ of the side for the way they dealt with going two behind on the day.
‘There was character, desire and leadership from so many players to come back from being behind. I have real mixed emotions though. I’m happy for the comeback but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that situation. The first half was so one-sided. Some of the balls into the box were outstanding, we should have been out of sight.’
Harris went on to say that it had to be used as a learning curve, but obviously there were positives.
‘We’re a young group and we’ve got young strikers at the moment, but we can work on timing of the runs and end product. Coming in at half-time, I said to the boys ‘don’t slip off the standards we’re setting, the end product will come’. It shows real character and desire to come back from 2-0 down. I’m delighted for my players. There were a lot of really positive performances and I’m delighted with the three points.’
For O’Brien, with his late strike returning all three points he was obviously in front of the official site for an interview at the full time whistle, and the 23 year old explained that it was an unforgettable moment for him.
‘When I played for my Dad’s team he always used to say to me, ‘you’re the magician, no one’s going to stop you’. From when I was young I always told myself I was the magician and going to score goals. It’s always stuck with me, my Dad kind of drilled it into my head. I always believe when I’m on the bench – no matter how long is left, whatever the score – I always believe in myself.’
Having come on as a substitute on the day, he certainly took his chance when it came along deep into stoppage time, and he said of the goal itself.
‘The night before I always dream of an image of me scoring the winner. I do that all the time, it’s not just a one-off thing. I was prepared that I was going to score the winner. I don’t think you can teach that, you either know where the ball is going to drop or you don’t. It’s all about timing. That ball could have been two seconds delayed, I could have made that run and that goal wouldn’t have happened. But the ball got put in, I was there right behind Webby at the right moment and executed it as well. On Friday I just kept picturing scoring the winner. Dave Livermore said to me, ‘it’s your time to come on tomorrow, you’re on the bench, don’t take it personally, it’s just a change’. He told me to keep picturing scoring the winner overnight – and there you have it!’
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