Read the manager's post-match thoughts following Wanderers' victory over Fleetwood
Wanderers claimed an emphatic 4-2 victory away at promotion-rivals Fleetwood Town on Saturday.
Adam Le Fondre fired home his first two goals since rejoining the Club, with David Wheater and Mark Beevers both firing home from Filipe Morais.
Having also seen captain Darren Pratley return from injury and confirmed the signing of Jem Karacan before kick-off, manager Phil Parkinson covering the following points when speaking after the match...
On his side’s performance…
I think we looked like a team of men today. We were very strong in everything we did, we played some great football and looked dangerous every time we went forward.
It’s got to be up there with Fleetwood’s league position and the run that they have been on. They’ve beaten some big teams to go 18 games unbeaten, they are a good side.
We are obviously delighted with the way we played today. We had other chances as well. We hit the post and had goals disallowed but we looked a strong team today.
We improved from where we were last week against AFC Wimbledon and there were some good signs out there for us today.
On Adam Le Fondre opening his account for the Club…
We’re really pleased with both Adam’s goals and his all-round play.
Even when he hasn’t scored, he’s done a good job for the team. He wins headers and closes people down.
He’s kept getting into the right areas and they were two great goals today. The second one is a real textbook striker’s goal and I’m very pleased for him.
On Filipe Morais' delivery and Wanderers' threat from set-pieces…
Filipe’s delivery was very good, not just from set-pieces but from open play as well, and we could have had more.
I’m not sure what the referee saw when he disallowed one in the second half. He was up against a good player in Amari’i Bell but I thought at times he had him on toast. He put in some fantastic crosses.
On captain Darren Pratley's return from injury…
He’s a captain, he’s a leader and the more of those experienced types of player you have on the pitch, the better chance you’ve got.
We didn’t decide that until Friday morning really. We had chats with Darren on Thursday and Friday.
Really we were going to play him on Monday night for the Under-23s but he trained that well this week, especially towards the backend of the week, that I said to him he’s a good enough player to get his fitness back in the first team.
He was very positive about that himself. It’s a real credit to him as a professional that he was able to play in the manner he did today.
I’m sure he’ll give a lot of thanks to Matt Barrass, Nick Allamby and the medical team who have worked very hard with him to get him into that physical condition. He was excellent for us today.
On new signing Jem Karacan…
Jem has got great running power, similar to Darren. He can cover the ground, make tackles and intercept things.
He’s an excellent signing for us and is a really good character. He hasn’t played for a long time but we’ve brought him in and he’s lifted the level of training.
His enthusiasm and attitude, him and Darren training this week has really lifted everyone and we’re pleased to have him on board.
On Dorian Dervite's performance…
We’ve got to give Dorian Dervite a mention as well. I felt he played excellently. It was a difficult game for him, only his second game after being out of the side for so long.
He played really well and I’m pleased for him because he’s had to wait patiently.
On the promotion hunt...
It’s game on, 11 games to go now. We said to the lads that this is a mini-season.
This was the start of a 12-game block and we’ve started it well. It is only a start but it is a statement as well because we’ve come to a very good side and won convincingly.
And finally, on Tuesday night's trip to Gillingham…
I saw Gillingham the other week and they are a good side. We’ve got to make sure that as much as we played well today, we got up another level again on Tuesday.
We have to do everything we can to give ourselves an edge, play with the motivation and organisation we showed today and just the sheer will to win which you could see and sense in the lads.