After Saturday’s 2-1 win against Barnsley, Interim Manager Rob Page couldn’t hide his pride at the team’s performance, but he modestly admitted that he gave the team very few instructions for the game beforehand.
He believes it was all down to them going out with confidence to get the job done and get their first home win of the season.
Talking to the press after the game, Rob said: “I’m over the moon, it’s always nice to get off to a winning start and I’m proud of the performance the boys put in.
“I think since the events of Thursday I’ve had three to four sessions with them and told them nothing more than what they already knew.
“If I’ve got to tell them how to play football going forward, then there’s something wrong.
“There’s some very good footballers in the squad and I think they’ve shown that today.
“The biggest thing I wanted to improve on is when things aren’t going our way, we need to get back into defensive positions straight away and they did that today.
“They’re a fantastic group of lads to work for, but they have shown a lack confidence and belief in themselves over recent weeks.
“Today, for whatever reason they looked like they didn’t have any cares, they just went out to play football.
“The point I tried to get over to them in the short time I had with them, was that they are a good team, just go out and enjoy it.”
Rob felt that every player in the team performed brilliantly on Saturday, including winger Mark Marshall who scored the winning goal, to start his quest for the full-time job off well.
He said: “It was a very positive performance from everyone, from Chris Neal all the way up to Tom Pope
“I thought Tom was back to his best today, I’ve asked him to be that nasty horrible player that centre-halves don’t want to play against and I thought he produced that for me today.
“You know what Mark Marshall is capable of. In the first half we knew he had the better of him and with total respect to Mark, they took the right back off at half time.
“For the winning goal, himself and Byron switched sides, he cuts in and scores a great goal and he could have had another one before that as well.
“Everyone that played today, even the subs that came on, gave me everything I asked for, and that was determination, grit, fight and all the things the fans want to see in a player.”
Rob has admitted that after Saturday’s performance he has high hopes for the team, and will not allow for a drop in momentum, to ensure they take it into the next three away matches.
He explained: “They’ve set the benchmark, I’ll ask for the same in training. Whenever they turn up for a session, I want them to give me everything they’ve got.
“There can’t be any half measures, because you create bad habits by doing that. Come Saturday they’ll accept that half measures are okay, but they’re not.
“So when they train I want them to give 100% and they’ll take that into the game. We need to keep the momentum going now.
“Time spans mean nothing to me; it’s about winning games of football. I’m a realist, if I lose three, four or five games; I’m not going to get the job.
“If I win games, I give myself a bit of hope that I do justice to get the job. I’m not worried about that, what I’m pleased with is that the lads have gone out and given a good account of themselves.”