Read back the manager's post-match thoughts following Tuesday's victory over the Dale
Phil Parkinson had his defence to thank for Wanderers' defiant 1-0 victory over local-rivals Rochdale on Tuesday night.
Defender Mark Beevers prodded home late on following an agonising goalmouth scramble to clinch local bragging rights for the Whites.
Having seen his side seal back-to-back wins at Macron Stadium, the Wanderers manager covered the following points when speaking to bwfc.co.uk after the game...
On his side’s performance…
The lads have stuck at it and I’m really pleased with them because it was a tough game. Tonight we’ve dealt with everything they’ve thrown at us and managed to get the win.
We thought today’s game would pan out how it did and sometimes you have to win ugly and do whatever it takes.
In football you have to win every type of game whether it be a good footballing game or a scrappy one. That is the kind of mentality you need to have if you’re going to finish at the top.
On tonight’s opposition…
It was a difficult night with so much at stake. You can see that they came here relishing the prospect of playing at this stadium and you have to give them credit because I thought they came here and made it very hard for us.
Sometimes when everything isn’t going right you have to get the basics right so when you come off the field you know you’ve contributed to a winning performance and that’s what the lads did tonight.
On back to back wins…
Three games unbeaten is a fantastic effort. The new lads have come in since deadline day and given us a lift.
We didn’t quite have the same quality as the weekend but when it’s not going for you, you still have to show that you can win.
That three points is one of the biggest of the season and I’m so proud of the lads.
On the new-look three central defenders…
Derik, Wheater and Beevers have done really well tonight, they’re all outstanding centre-halves.
Games are won and lost in both penalty boxes and those three tonight stood up to everything they threw at us.
Beevers has been back to his best the last couple of games, Wheats has been fantastic in that position for us and Derik is someone that we feel has to play because he’s such a good player.
On the confusion of the goal scorer…
Hopefully it’s one of ours and not an own goal. The important thing is we’re all going to wake up tomorrow morning and see, Bolton 1-0 Rochdale and that’s another three points on the board.
And finally, on the next two difficult away trips to Bradford and Sheffield United…
Without doubt tonight’s result is important because we can now go into those two away games full of confidence.
I feel the spirit of the lads has got us through today and I’ve said since pre-season that this group of lads have something special about them and I felt tonight epitomised them as a group.