"I thought we started very well and got the early goal but that the game then became a bit stop start with all the injuries. They then got back into the game with what I thought was an outrageous penalty, as I thought there was no contact with their player. Ian Breckin has said the same and he was supposed to have committed the foul! Even Micky Adams has said to me that he thought his player had gone down too easily and I have to say that I thought the referee made the wrong decision.
"That decision knocked us back a bit and John Filan made two or three great saves on the night to be fair. The double save in the first half was especially outstanding. It's not just his saves though, it's his authority that is important and late on it's brilliant to see him coming for crosses and corners and taking them so confidently. That's vital when teams are putting the pressure on and he did great for us.
"After half time I thought we were fairly comfortable, worked a little harder and that made a difference. That's not to say that we didn't work hard in the first half, I just asked the players to give us a little more after the break. I said to the players 'We are playing for big stakes here'. I said: 'Remember how it felt last year."
"After the break we did then step it up a bit and eventually we got our rewards with a wonder goal from 'The Duke.' He's always got that in his locker we know that, but it really was a wonderful strike on what was a difficult ball to hit. I thought he worked really hard for us all night long and even when he was forced onto the left hand side of midfield while Lee McCulloch was getting stitches, he won about three headers and showed his committment to the cause.
"I actually thought their 'keeper had a bit of a cheek diving for 'Duke's' goal because he was never going to get near it really! Perhaps he thought he might get it if it came back off the post but we were right behind it and as soon as he struck it it was only destined for one place.
"We have not been at our best tonight and that's what makes the win all the more pleasing. We have battled hard and got there in the end and I've often said that there are many different ways to win a football match. On Saturday we played excellently from start to finish whereas tonight we were patchy at times. However, this evening we have picked up three points too and that is all we can ask for.
"We are pleased to go back to the top of the table but to be honest we will not give that too much thought. We will just focus on the game at Gillingham on Saturday and not worry about anything other than the things that we can directly influence. We obviously knew that we would be top if we won tonight and that is nice, but at the end of the day it's being top in May that counts and not in February.
"One other thing I'd like to say is that I'd like to thank our fans for the fabulous support they gave us tonight on what is a fairly unpleasant night to be travelling down from Wigan. For almost of thousand of them to make the effort is just fantastic and everyone in the dressing room is delighted that we gave them the result that they deserved for their efforts this evening."