Money salutes focused stars

After a week dominated by transfer speculation the manager praised the way his side responded, writes Mark Wood.

He said: “We should give everyone a great deal of credit for keeping things together over a difficult period.

“We’ve won five games and drawn three in this month of January while everyone is trying to tout our players everywhere.

“It’s a terrific three points, a proper football game.

“I thought we were excellent first half and deserved to come in much more than 1-0 in front.

“It was an excellent goal.

“I thought it was a real proper game with two of the better teams in this division.

“They are obviously striving to get themselves back in it and are difficult to play against.

“On a pitch as heavy as that it was going to be difficult to keep it rolling.

“They pinned us back in the second half but we defended very well.

“There’s more than Andy Drury in the team.

“The back four were excellent and everyone played their part. Alex Lawless was outstanding.”

Money opted for a traditional 4-4-2 formation, adding: “The pitch is heavy.

“We felt two up top would give us a little bit more of a platform to play from.

“I thought (Lloyd) Owusu and (Matthew) Barnes-Homer were a real good complement together – the target man and the runner.”