I’m really pleased, We started with this group 10 months ago and it’s been a long, hard winter. As everyone knows it’s been freezing but the sun’s out and it came out on my team today. We’ve played a lot better than that. The lads looked really jaded today. We had Gillingham away Tuesday night and Bristol Rovers didn’t have a midweek game. I thought they looked fresher than us which I don’t normally say about my team.
“Bristol Rovers are a good team with attacking threats but in fairness you could see which team had played midweek and got home at 3 o’clock in the morning and which team hadn’t,” Warne added.
“We didn’t play on all cylinders at any time, the players looked tired. It’s not a criticism, it’s just the way it is, and to get a clean sheet in the circumstances was good. My overall feeling is pride. Sometimes you have to win when you’re not playing well and today was that day.”
“We’ve asked the lads to step up the last three games and they’ve done that. As a manager of the group of men, I’m really proud. I’m giving the lads a few days off to have a bit of down time, we’re pressing the refresh button and hopefully they will be football lively when they come back.
“Confirming our place in the play-offs takes the pressure off us a little bit. It doesn’t mean we’re not going to still try and perform at our max but it does allow me to possibly rest a couple and look at different things. I’m not going to disrespect the league and make eight changes but it does let me tweak.
“It will be nice to know that when I go to sleep on a Friday night it won’t be a do-or-die game the next day. I still want the lads to perform to a level but it’s not essential that we win.
“Hopefully we will go into the play-offs and be strong and do something but as I sit here today I couldn’t be any prouder of the group.”
“I’m really proud of what the lads have achieved, I’ve got a great backroom staff who all work really hard. We set out what we wanted to achieve at the start of the season. We haven’t achieved anything, but at least we’ve given ourselves a chance to try and get promoted. We have to try and refresh the lads now and deal with these last two league games where I can freshen it up a bit."
“We’ll try and hit the play-offs football-fresh and football-fit, and just try and get through to the final. It’s still really good what we’ve done. What we’ve achieved is exciting and I’m really proud of them. All of the lads in the dressing room have played a part; some of them have played 10 games and some have played 30. But they’ve all played a massive part. Today I asked them to give me everything again and they definitely did that.
“Woody was excellent again. I don’t know how many times he got cracked in the head! I thought Icky did really well. The two centre-halves, I thought, were excellent today. Bristol Rovers had a lot of the ball and put a lot into the box but I thought we were pretty comfortable to deal with it."
“When Smudge went clean through I thought he was taking his shot too early! I was ready to shout at him and then it went right in the top bin. He’ll be really pleased with that. His work-rate is phenomenal. He takes a bit of a beating, so for him to get a goal is good. ’Lavs’ went on and got a goal as well, so it’s always nice when the strikers score."
“Generally, I’m pleased with the way we defended and it’s just nice to get over that finishing line.
“On a sunny day today, winning 2-0 with a loud crowd is a proud moment for me.”