Elliott Dickman has hailed the character of his players after last night’s 2-1 win over Huddersfield Town in the Premier League Cup.
Under-18s striker Cole Kiernan came off the bench to grab the winner in the 88th minute to complete the turnaround, after Ruben Sammut equalised just after half-time.
And Dickman is hopeful that now his squad have a taste for victory, there could be more in the pipeline with Hartlepool United and Wigan Athletic to come in the next week.
“I’m pleased for the players and the staff who support them, I see what we do every day and I know what we’re about. A lot of time, effort and energy goes into preparing the lads in training.” Dickman said.
“It’s a totally different feeling going into the changing rooms after a win, knowing that all our effort and hard work has been rewarded.
“It’s a feeling that we need to enjoy and hopefully we can use that as motivation to keep moving forward. The lads should take a great deal of confidence out of the game.
“Character is a massive part of the game and a trait that I believe you need in order to deal with setbacks and criticism.
“Sometimes when we’ve gone a goal down in previous games, we’ve crumbled a little bit, but last night our character was good, and we responded very well to the early setback.”
The under-23s boss also called on youngsters Joe Hugill and Kiernan for the final 10 minutes and was delighted with their contribution.
“Joe’s been fantastic, he missed pre-season with an injury, but we’ve gradually built him up through the 16s and the 18s and he deserved his opportunity with us,” Dickman continued.
“He shows great maturity for such a young head and if he keeps his head down and works hard, he could be a real prospect.
“Cole has had a frustrating season in the under-18s, and he’s probably not scored as many goals as he’d have liked.
“He’s stuck at it and kept working hard each day in training and hopefully his goal last night can really kick-start his season.”
