Steve Cotterill praised the resilience of Forest Green’s players as the EFL’s bottom club won 3-0 at Crewe.
The Sky Bet League Two strugglers swept into a three-goal lead before the half-hour mark at Gresty Road and then defended the lead impressively in the second half, helped by some outstanding goalkeeping by Vicente Reyes.
Jordan Garrick netted twice and Jamie Robson added the third in a purple patch for the visitors during which Emmanuel Osadebe also hit a post.
“I am pleased with the win; we kept a clean sheet and scored three good goals,” said Cotterill.
“At the moment we’d be thankful for any win, so to win 3-0 at a team near the top is very good.
“We’ve had an incredibly difficult run since I have been here, but the lads were fantastic today.
“They were really determined and, while confidence is a word that hasn’t been high on the agenda this season, the determination and resilience we showed today was excellent.
“We’d won four games when I came in and now in a couple of months we’ve won five, so that is a huge upturn. It has taken a lot of hard work and I’m delighted for everyone at the club as there’s not been a lot to cheer this season.
“For Jordan Garrick to get on the scoresheet was good and I thought Christian Doidge and Jamie Robson were outstanding. Jamie set the tempo for us, so much so the boys gave him a round of applause in the dressing room afterwards.”
Garrick finished in the 13th-minute after Dodge capitalised on a mistake by Ed Turns and broke to slip clear his strike partner.
Forest Green then stunned the home crowd into boos and howling at their own players with two goals in as many minutes. Dominic Thompson’s corner was headed downwards by Ryan Inniss and Garrick bundled the ball over the line.
Robson then applied a glancing header to Charlie McCann’s cross to find the far corner for the third.
Crewe hit back after the interval and Reyes kept out an Elliott Nevitt volley at close range.
Charlie Kirk’s side-footed effort came back off the woodwork and looked to be over the line, but the officials waved away home appeals.
Crewe boss Lee Bell urged his players to respond to the setback as the Railwaymen’s barren run continued – they have won only won one of their last six games to hit their hopes of securing automatic promotion.
“I want to apologise to Crewe fans for the manner of that defeat,” said Bell.
“The first half was totally unacceptable. We had a really good crowd of over 5,000 and the club worked hard to get more supporters in, but what they saw in the first half was not was what we have been like this season.
“If we want to stay in the play-offs that’s got to stop quickly. The players were down on the floor afterwards and it is my job to pick them up.
“We’ve got to embrace it and not shrink and disappear. This should galvanise the players as their pride should be hurt after that 30 minutes of football we showed in the first half.
“There’s four weeks of the season left and we’ve got to everything right to get in a position the fans expect us to be in.”
Haaland has 'full trust' in Guardiola to halt Man City slump
Erling Haaland has "full trust" in the "best manager in the world", Pep Guardiola, to get Manchester City back on track against Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday.
Guardiola's side have lost four matches in a row across all competitions, which is the Spaniard's longest losing run in his entire managerial career.
The Citizens last lost more consecutively between March and April 2006 under Stuart Pearce (six – the fifth game of which was also against Tottenham).
But after putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract extension at the club earlier this week, Guardiola has his eyes firmly set on returning to winning ways on home soil.
And Haaland, who has scored 105 goals in 114 appearances under Guardiola at City, believes they can make up the gap to leaders Liverpool, who are five points ahead.
"When you look at what he's been doing for the club, he's not bad, is he? So he's got my full trust," Haaland told Sky Sports.
"And if he tells me something, I'd better do it because he knows the best in the end. Everyone knows that. So I'm sure he will find solutions now as well. I'm sure of that.
"[Guardiola] demands us to be at our best in every training session, in every game. And that's what we need to do. It hasn't been good enough, losing four games now, but let's try to win the next."
Al-Nassr 1-2 Al-Qadsiah: Aubameyang winner ends hosts' unbeaten run
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit the winner as Al-Qadsiah inflicted a 2-1 defeat on Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League on Friday to end their 21-match unbeaten run.
Cristiano Ronaldo's seventh league goal of the season put Al-Nassr ahead, but Al-Qadsiah replied swiftly through Julian Quinones before Aubameyang struck the decisive blow.
The hosts drew first blood in the 32nd minute when Ronaldo slotted home after Al-Qadsiah goalkeeper Koen Casteels had spilled a routine catch from Talisca's cross.
However, Al-Nassr's joy was short-lived when Quinones brought down Turki Al Ammar's delivery five minutes later, with the Mexcio winger firing past Bento to level the scores.
Quinones also played a part in the winning goal after brilliantly turning the ball back across goal from Nahitan Nandez's search pass to tee up a simple finish for Aubameyang.
The result sees Al-Qadsiah move level on 22 points with third-placed Al-Nassr, with Al-Shabab also level with them.
Stefano Pioli's Al-Nassr are six points adrift of defending champions and leaders Al-Hilal, who also have a game in hand.
Arsenal handed another injury blow as White ruled out for 'months'
Mikel Arteta confirmed that Arsenal defender Ben White is facing "months" on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury.
White had been dealing with several issues all season and has missed five games in all competitions for the Gunners already this term.
After struggling through until the November international break, the decision was taken for him to undergo surgery in order to finally address the ongoing problems.
It serves as a bitter blow for Arteta, with only Thomas Parety (13) making more interceptions than White (11) for Arsenal in the Premier League this campaign.
Though Arteta confirmed that the surgery was successful, White is set for a lengthy spell out of the team.
"It has been different kinds of struggles. It has never been the same thing, but we had to make a decision. He has not improved over the last few weeks, unfortunately," said Arteta.
"We know that Ben is going to push every boundary, but it got to the point where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery.
"He agreed with that and it is going to keep him out for a few months."
Asked for a specific time frame, Arteta added: "We have to see how he reacts post-surgery. I don't expect it to be half a year, but I cannot tell you exactly."
It offers a concern for Arteta in the full-back area, with the Spaniard also revealing on Friday that Takehiro Tomiyasu is "going to be out as well for a bit".
There was, however, some positive injury news for the Gunners ahead of welcoming Nottingham Forest to the Emirates on Saturday.
After not featuring for England during the international break, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are expected to be fit to feature against Nuno Espirito Santo's side.
Leandro Trossard will also be available for Arteta despite picking up a hamstring injury during the international break with Belgium.
Defender Riccardo Calafiori is also in contention for Saturday's game after a month out with a knee problem.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
