Phil Parkinson was happy to see the back of a stressful week with a 1-0 win over Southend. He also discussed the possibility of the Bristol Rovers game being postponed...
Parkinson said: “I’m very pleased. We’ve had two long trips on the road, and maybe we weren’t at our sharpest for the whole game, but in patches we were good. It’s important when you are not quite at your best you get the result. We showed good resilience and we should have scored more, although some of our crossing was not as good as we like. It’s an important win for us, with the possibility of not having a league game for a while (because of international call-ups). Everybody knew it was important to get the result. Luke is a terrific player. The most important thing is he is great in both boxes, and that is where the game is won or lost. That goal, I am looking forward to watching it again with a glass of wine. It was a terrific header, a great cross, and I am very pleased for him. Him (Hume) and McGeady in the opening 25 minutes were almost unplayable. Denver has grown in confidence, he has great legs and energy, when he faces players at one vs one you expect him to go past and deliver. He created a goal, it will do him the world of good. We have to wait and see who is called up officially. The problem we have is the goalkeeping situation - we have to asses Burgey (Lee Burge). We don’t want to go into the game weakened and give them the advantage, so with that in mind, it was so crucial to get this win.”
Match Ratings vs Southend
Jon McLaughlin (7/10). Flapped at a few crosses but kept a clean sheet.
Conor McLaughlin (7/10): Tidy in possession and linked up well with O’Nien.
Jordan Willis (7/10): Wasn’t challenged much and never looked troubled.
Joel Lynch (7/10): Good on the ball but didn’t have much to do defensively.
Denver Hume (8/10): Everything positive came through his left-hand side in the first half. Really good dribbling and a great cross for O’Nien’s goal.
Max Power (6/10): Sat in front of the defence and was steady.
George Dobson (7/10): Broke up play well and sprayed passes out wide all day long.
Luke O’Nien (8/10): Excellent. Good diving header and full of energy as always.
Aiden McGeady (6/10): Linked well with Hume in the first half particularly but tried too hard to impress later on.
Chris Maguire (5/10): Didn’t have his best game. Slowed down the play every time he got the ball. Sloppy passes and miss-hit a golden chance free in the box.
Will Grigg (6/10): Linked play well with the midfield but fed off scraps in front of goal.
Subs:
Duncan Watmore (6/10): Got supporters off seats with his pace but didn’t hit the target.
Marc McNulty (6/10): Provided a bit of an outlet as we saw out the win.
Grant Leadbitter (6/10): Helped the defence in keeping Southend out.
