Liam Trotter - Emirates FA Cup victory was a collective effort

Midfielder offers his thoughts following his match-winning goal against Grimsby in the Emirates FA cup

Liam Trotter, who scored the only goal of the game in Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup victory over Grimsby Town, admitted his delight at marking his return to the starting XI in recent weeks in the perfect fashion.

Wanderers made it seven wins on the bounce with their Emirates FA Cup first round success over their Sky Bet League Two counterparts at the weekend to see them safely into Monday’s second round draw.

And following the final whistle at Macron Stadium, the midfielder offered his thoughts to the club’s website after notching his second goal of the campaign.

“I’m happy to be back in the team and contributing to the victories,” said Trotter. “At the beginning of the season I was playing week in, week out, but then we had a poor run of results and things had to change. 

“I found myself out of the team and really had to patient to be given an opportunity. 

“Last week I came in and thought I played well, while today I was given another chance to contribute and now I’m just hoping to continue that and stay in the team.”

Reflecting on the game as a whole, Trotter believes that the result should perhaps had been a more comfortable one but is confident that Saturday’s hard fought win simply showcases the talents of the team.

“It’s very much a collective effort with this team and today you saw two sides of us,” he explained. “In the first half, we showed how good we can be at attacking and in the second half, we showed how solid we can be defensively under some pressure from them.”

And with the season already in November, the match-winner has noticed the steady progression in performances. 

“As a collective, I think we have found our feet. We started the season well, getting the results without performing too well and then we had our dip in form,” he said.

"I think since then, we have come back with good results and now the performances to match. 

“You can look at every single player for the past seven games and struggle to pick a man of the match because everyone has performed so well.”

Despite impressive performances across the board however, Trotter is not taking anything for granted, least of all his own position in Wanderers’ starting 11.

“Competition is really fierce at the club,” said the 28-year-old. “The strength in depth is really good and you see it every day in training - the lads have realised that if they want to be in the team, they have to train at 100% in the week and then perform on match day.

“When the team is doing well and you’re out of it, you have to remain professional and be ready for an opportunity and when you are given that, you have to make sure you step in and take it.”

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