Cheltenham caretaker Milton lauds his side’s spirit after Cambridge win

Posted Sunday, August 26, 2018 by PA

Russell Milton praised his side’s attitude after Cheltenham won at Cambridge in the first game of his third spell in temporary charge.

Sam Jones scored the only goal after coming on as a half time substitute to make his Robins debut, lifting his new side above Cambridge in the table with their first win of the League Two season.

“It was a nerve-wracking game,” Milton commented afterwards.

“The spirit that they boys showed, their determination in defending, shutting down, was fantastic.

“I couldn’t have asked for any more that way. You can see in there that they’re working for each other and ground out a result away from home against a side that put us under a fair bit of pressure.

“I gave them the challenge of going man for man (at half time) so you’ve got to be better than you’re up against. Sam gave us that bit more presence up front. It paid dividends when he came up and scored.

“I’m pleased for Sam Jones. He’s just been in the door literally 24 hours and scored a good goal, took it very well.

“We restricted them shot wise to outside the box, we defended really well from the crosses that came in. There were too many for my liking but if they do come in you’ve got to get your head on to them first, which we did so I was really pleased with that.”

Joe Dunne made it clear that his Cambridge side’s defensive errors need to stop, having conceded 14 times in six matches this season.

“The goal against the run of play looks like a smash and grab from Cheltenham, all credit to them for doing it, but it’s one of those things that keeps happening,” Dunne said.

“It needs to be addressed. We need to stop these mistakes, stop these moments occurring that are costing us games.

“If you analyse the goals we’ve conceded you’ve got to do the basics of defending. Just be a defender. That’s how you stop them: do your job properly and then you don’t concede as many.

“Most of the attacking was done from our point of view. They’ve come away with a counter-attack goal and it’s a sucker punch. I thought we controlled the game.

“You don’t want to ask the players to keep coming back. That’s got to stop. We’ve got to do something to the opposition that makes them want to try and come back.

“Don’t get desperate in your play, think clearly. At the moment sometimes we make decisions that are a bit rash. Obviously we’re disappointed that we’ve lost two homes games now and that makes it a difficult start to the season.”