Bury won 1-0 over FC St Helens as their charge for the title continues, Manager Dave McNabb spoke to the club to give us his thoughts on the game.
Dave McNabb: “I think overall, over the moon really, I think a really tough game, really challenging conditions, the pitch was tough in terms of the dry weather and the bobbles, wasn’t conducive to playing any type of football on, but you go through a season and you’ve got to come up against different challenges and different adversity and I think the lads were absolutely outstanding. It wasn’t pretty to watch, but we battled to a man, we probably created another four or five really good chances, the game should have been out of sight I think, even in the first half, but the commitment, the group, it’s a special group, I think we’ve seen something change over the last few weeks, the togetherness, the camaraderie, the never say die attitude and today they’ve shown it in buckets and made up it’s another game ticked off.”
Dave then gave special praise to St Helens keeper Joe Mason who he had previously worked with at Macclesfield with him saying “Yeah, he did, he’s an excellent young goalkeeper, Joe, worked with him at Macclesfield, he’s got a really good future ahead of him, you’ve seen today what he’s best at, that shot stop and that reaction, reaction saves, he’s a really, really outstanding young goalkeeper to go far, obviously working with Mick at FC St Helens I think, it’s a good club for him, it’s a good base for him to grow, so yeah, if we’re going to be critical I think we’ve got to put the chances away where we don’t give them a chance but he’s made one in particular was a world-class save and it was unbelievable but I think there’s a few where we could have got a bit better contact and maybe put the game to bed.”
He then spoke about the reasons behind Aaron Chalmers inclusion in the squad as well as Connor Pye absence with him saying “Yeah, so obviously I think what Aaron gives us is a lot of experience and a lot of leadership and communication across the back line, we knew it was going to be a game today where there was probably going to be a lot of balls put on us and I think that’s obviously Aaron’s strength sort of defending that first contact so it made sense to bring Aaron in today. It’s tough, it’s tough to leave lads out of the squad, it’s tough to make decisions over who starts but it’s a better problem to have than it is to obviously be searching for someone to fill a gap so yeah, we’ve got an unbelievable squad at the moment and it’s difficult to manage but every time lads turn up they keep performing.”
Dave also provided an update to Rhys Kendall injury after he came off in the second half, he said “No, it’s going to be touch and go, I think he thought he could get through it which is always a good sign, he’s just rolled his ankle a little bit so it’s a little bit sore but tender now, obviously we’ll assess him Tuesday and make some decisions for next weekend but hopefully Thursday.”
He then spoke about whether this squad has what it takes to go all the way “Yeah, I mean, that’s what I mean, the lads are together, they’ve got a common goal, I think they all understand the jobs, they all understand the roles within the team, within the squad and look, they’re all pushing each other and you know, steel sharp and steel, I think it’s really pleasing to be around the group at the moment, it’s really enjoyable to be around them, I think they’re pushing each other, they’re striving for excellence and you know, it’s only 1-0, I’ll take 1-0 every game between now and the end of the season so, another big three points, doesn’t matter what else happens, I think we’re just sole focused now on Pilkington away next week, we’ve got two good training sessions and everything’s about trying to pick up three points next weekend.”
Dave then gave a message to the fans as we head into the last five games of the season “I think as staff obviously we’re always looking ahead, we’re always looking at what’s coming sort of over the horizon but for the players, we’ve only got one game left and that’s the next one, we’ve got to focus on the next game, the fans were unbelievable again today, they’ve been outstanding at Gigg, we’ve got a tough away game next week, come in your numbers, bring the noise and we’ll make sure that we try and get the three points.”