Dino Maamria was delighted to see his players get back to winning ways against Swindon Town on Tuesday night...
After suffering a heartbreaking defeat at Bury a few days prior, Maamria's men came out with a renewed vigour to ensure they made it count at the second time of trying.
“We got what we deserved tonight. Sometimes you work hard, like we did on Saturday and it was gutting to lose the way we did. We were determined tonight from kick-off, we were not going to let that result from Saturday affect us. I thought our performance was as good as Saturday, but we were more clinical. That was the difference.
“That was what we emphasised over the weekend. If we play with the same purpose and endeavour that we did on Saturday. If we are a little tighter and switched on defensively, and especially from set plays, we will be more clinical on the other side. We will win the game. That is what we did tonight.”
After taking the lead in the first half thanks to another Alex Revell header, Stevenage had to defend well in the second half as Swindon desperately searched for an equaliser.
“First half, I thought we should have scored two or three. We hit the crossbar, we hit the post, we scored. We were probably more fluid second half, but in the first half we created better chances.
"It was always going to be a little bit scrappy second half, because of the hesitation from Saturday’s game. The end of the game we wanted to see through, but I thought the players played brilliantly over the two games.
“We cannot win games without Ben Nugent at the back and it is a brilliant team performance. I have got to mention Paul Farman because he has come under criticism of late and the last two games he has been outstanding.”
The moment of the match was once again provided by Ilias Chair who, with the goalkeeper out of position and deep into added time, hit a brilliant half-volley from 65 yards out that nestled into the Swindon net.
"Ilias actually worked a lot harder in the second half and I always tell him if you work hard you will get your reward. His vision, his finish from the other side of the pitch - I am egging it on and it is a fantastic finish but it doesn't surprise me. He has got that quality and it is brilliant fro him."
The result cuts away Stevenage's gap to the Play-Offs to just five points but Dino Maamria is narrowing his focus with a big game at MK Dons coming up at the weekend.
“I am not going to talk about that, I am going to talk about the next game. Sometimes we lose focus when we start talking about the Play-Offs. We are in a good position, we will keep working hard.
“If we show the same purpose and endeavour that we have showed in the last two games, I think we will get to where we deserve to be at the end of the season.
“We have a got a big game at MK Dons on Saturday, a team we know pretty well. We beat them here, probably our best game of the season was against them. I have got to make sure I look after the players next couple of days, and pick the right team to try and get a positive result at MK Dons.”
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