Nathan Baxter was delighted to gain a share in a piece of club history but wants to make sure there’s a bigger prize to go with it.
The Wanderers’ keeper kept the Whites’ seventh successive clean sheet as Ian Evatt’s men extended their unbeaten run with a 0-0 draw at Oxford United.
The sequence of shut-outs (including one from Joel Coleman at Stockport County in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy) equals a club record set in 1900 by John Willie Sutcliffe – a dual England international at football and rugby union.
Current Wanderers’ number-one Baxter is honoured to be in his company and hopes his efforts continue to help the Whites in their promotion push.
“It’s nice to make history at the club. Nineteen-hundred is a long time ago so I'm really proud of that, but it's also important to say how the clean sheets start with everyone; the strikers, the midfielders and obviously the defenders.
“It's important to note that. They are not as easy to come by as people think sometimes so credit to everyone. We're really pleased with it but we want to make sure it contributes to our aims at the end of the season.
“These little things are nice. The gaffer talks a lot about making history at this football club which I really like. I'm glad that we did that and well done to everyone, but the most important thing is we achieve the goal which everyone knows. If we break lots of records and don't do that it won't be a successful season.”
Baxter wasn’t always over-worked in Wanderers’ recent eight-match winning run. But his organisation and distribution from the back were instrumental in helping the Whites climb the table.
And the summer signing then excelled at Oxford on Tuesday night with two superb saves before Wanderers took control after the break to earn the point which keeps them at the top of the table on goal difference from Portsmouth – their next opponents in the league on Monday-week.
“I think in the second half we were brilliant,” Baxter added. “There were so many positives to take out of that. I think we're in a good place that we’re coming away from home and being disappointed with a 0-0 draw.
“We've got a couple of cup games coming up now but the next game in the league – which is nowhere near season-defining at this point – is a good marker of where we're at.
“On Tuesday night you could clearly see how well we've played. I know coaches talk a lot about the performance, because you can't always guarantee the result, but if the performance is there in the long run you're going to get the results.
“I was really pleased with the way everyone played and it was nice for me because these are the sort of games when you need your goalie to step up. I was pleased, personally, but I think we should all be proud of the way we played and we will take a lot of positives into the next few games.”