Rob Newman - We defended different class

Rob Newman - Centre forward role against Lincoln City

“ Every time you can play and you are good enough, you have got to pick yourself “ said a happy Rob Newman after the 2-1 win over Lincoln City.

“ It was very good today, we defended different class today, I am pleased we carried on where we left off against Orient the other night” continued Newman, “ Danny Gay’s come in and done nothing wrong, this is a tough place to come, it is a credit to the players that they have come here and won, we got a good goal early on and probably had the best chances second half, we stood firm and it was the perfect away performance”.

Blues who were winning their first away game in 2002 and recording only their second victory home and away in twelve games delighted Newman “ The sixteen players in the squad were the only fit players we have, Mark Rawle trained yesterday but complained afterwards that his groin was still sore and declared himself unfit, read into that what you want, he knows his own body, Phil Whelan has still not recovered from his badly bruised shoulder, good news is that its not fractured or dislocated, so as we showed at Orient in the second half we need a big target man, I have played up there a couple of times before, I am never going to get behind them but hopefully I helped the cause by winning a few headers and linking the play, I thought I did well enough for the other players to say I helped them to the win, overall it was a great team performance”

Newman had this to say about the players that he brought in to the side “

Leon Johnson - Outstanding

Steven Clark, that was his first full game for five or six weeks, he was a bit tired at the end, credit to the lad, he has stuck at his job, his pace is his asset, I don’t think he uses it enough but he scored a great goal today and could have scored another. Danny Gay played his first game since the Luton game and has done nothing wrong, Dave McSweeney has been playing magnificently in the reserves and he was outstanding at centre back today, Leon Johnson has been playing well in the centre of midfield for the reserves but I have asked him to play wide left today and I thought he was outstanding today as well, but I don’t want to single players out, it was a team effort and everyone was outstanding”.

Newman was then asked if he would continue changing the starting line-up “ I probably will, there are still a few players I want to look at, but its nice to chop and change and get a win as well, I want us to get back in the habit of winning so I don’t think their will be drastic changes though”.

Dave McSweeney - Outstanding

Goal scoring hero Steven Clark was not too pleased with his first start after recovering from his knee ligament problems “ I got the goal but I didn’t think I played that well, the team put on a good display and I am just glad we got three points on the table, my knees okay now, but I just need to get my fitness back, its not there at the moment. We have got six games left and if we win them all we can still get into the play-off’s” said an optimistic Clark

Steve Connolly
www.thelittlegazette.com