Goalscorer Jordan Roberts gives his thoughts on a tremendous performance against Cambridge United…
Roberts has started all three of Boro’s League One fixtures so far and opened his account for the season last night against the U’s. He was very pleased with the team’s performance. “We came into the game knowing it’s kind of a local derby. The lads have got to earn the right to play, work hard and win their battles and I thought they did that down to a T. I thought we defended as a unit, and everyone worked their socks off.”
“The gaffer has reiterated a number of times that it’s going to involve everyone, everyone’s going to need to play their part. It’s happened on numerous occasions now where players have come off the bench and scored.”
It was a dominant first half for Stevenage which saw numerous chances go their way. Roberts assessed the first forty-five. “We knew we could create chances with the players on the pitch. I think we exploited spaces down the side well and with the new lads coming in it was important that we settled as early as possible.”
After twenty-seven minutes, the dynamic forward took his chance and opened the scoring to give Boro the lead. “There was one before that where I think I should’ve stayed on the keeper and maybe had another chance. You’ve always got to be in and around the box to get chances and with the height and the aerial presence we’ve got up there with our defenders and Pressley, I know there’s always going to be chances. For me it’s about being in the right areas and luckily that one paid off today.”
Stevenage could’ve made it two or three before Cambridge found their equaliser and Roberts believes his side can “learn to start killing games off when we’re on top.” “We can sometimes shoot ourselves in the foot like we did there but luckily Reidy, as he’s done on numerous occasions now, stepped up and he’s dug us out of a hole and got us the three points.”
Roberts enjoyed celebrating in front of over a thousand Stevenage supporters and was extremely grateful for their support. “It’s always nice to see them turn up in their numbers, we’ll give our all every time we go out there and try and give them something to cheer about. We’re doing that well now and we want to carry that on.”
He was substituted off to a standing ovation just before full-time and when asked whether the substitution was through exhaustion, he stated he was “as fresh as a daisy!” “I’ll always work hard and give my all. Whether I get carried off the pitch or walk off the pitch, I’ll always give my all. We got the three points and that’s the most important thing.”
Boro are on fine form at the moment and Roberts just wants the games to keep on coming. “Sometimes it’s hard when it’s Saturday Tuesday, but the lads are mature enough to do the right things off the pitch and recover well because the games come thick and fast. You’ve always got to be ready and if you’re not there’s always someone to come and replace you. The lads will recover well and go onto Saturday.”
Despite the league table being very nice to look at as a Stevenage supporter, Roberts is remaining composed. “It’s how the gaffer sets up; he keeps us grounded at times. We can’t go into Saturday with a cockiness and arrogance about us, and we can’t take our foot off the gas. When we’re in teams’ faces, we smother them like we have today.
The group’s focus now turns to a trip to Reading on Saturday and Roberts is looking forward to the challenge. “We don’t really look at the opposition too much, I think we concentrate on ourselves. We won’t have fear of any team in front of us and we’ll go out there and play when we can. We’ll press teams and attack teams and hopefully come out on top.”