Manager Danny Johnson was delighted with his team’s second consecutive victory in the space of 48 hours. The gaffer told the website that his team showed great mental strength to overcome an excellent Worksop team. Danny also told the website that he felt his comments regarding the quality of Chorley were in the heat of the moment and it was more criticism of his team rather than disrespect to Chorley football club.

The gaffer explains ‘we started the game last night really brightly but the inevitable happened due to the fact that we didn’t take our chances in the opening 15 minutes. Worksop got on top of us a little but we had a good chat at half time and I can’t fault the way the lads responded. They came out all guns blazing and played some excellent football, possibly the best we’ve played this season. However, we need to be consistent for 90 minutes and the lads know that’.

‘I don’t think we have played that well for the last 3 or 4 games and hopefully now we have turned a bit of a corner. I am led to believe I annoyed a couple of Chorley supporters following my piece on the blog after they knocked us out of the FA Cup. It wasn’t meant to be disrespectful to them more an opportunity to let my team know that they need to improve their own levels of performance. Sometimes we all say things that don’t come out as intended. I have nothing but respect for the way Chorley knocked us out of the FA Cup. Steve Waywell is one of the best non league managers around and contrary to reports I did shake his hand and wished both him and Lol McMahon all the very best for the next round. Good luck to them, they deserved their victory and I sincerely hope they continue in the competition’.

‘We now have to remain focused and maintain the required levels of performance to compete at the top end of this league. Every week we face a difficult challenge and as I said to the lads before, at half time and at the end of the game last night, when you are top of the league teams want to shoot you down. This will now be a bigger test than a relegation battle; we need to treat every game like a cup final. We will be doing everything we can to stay where we are but we need a little bit of luck and we are under no illusions that we are punching way above our weight at this moment in time’.

When I asked the gaffer if we can win the league his reply was:

‘No chance, were not equipped well enough as a football club. There are too many things going on behind the scenes and with the financial restraints on my playing budget we will do well to secure a place in the top eight. At the minute we have the likes of Matty O’Neill, Ryan Moore, Marlin Piana and Callum Flanagan all sidelined with injuries. If we can get them all fit and playing again it will only enhance our chances. My target is to get to 45 points as quickly as we possibly can and then we can relax and enjoy the remainder of the season. I would really like a nice run in the FA Trophy but I am sure Karl Marginson and FC United will have a big say in that’.

‘I would just like to take this opportunity to thank all the members of my backroom staff. Danny Jones, Dave Haworth, Anthony Jackson, our physio Russell Batchelor and our new assistant physio Danny Fishwick all work exceptionally hard behind the scenes and I can’t praise or thank each and everyone of them enough. It’s a real team effort and I am sure the players will agree that they wouldn’t perform as well as they do if it wasn’t for the dedication of the backroom staff’.