Head Coach Steven Schumacher was delighted with the “perfect” derby day performance as Wanderers made it three victories in a row over Wigan Athletic following a 1-0 triumph on Saturday lunchtime away from home.
Josh Sheehan’s stunning 83rd minute strike swerved beyond Latics goalkeeper Sam Tickle to ensure Wanderers were winners at the Brick Community Stadium in front of a sold-out following of 4,600 Whites’ supporters.
Following on from full-time, Schumacher reflected on a day to remember against Ryan Lowe’s Latics.
Schumacher told Wanderers TV: “It’s a big win, it’s an important game for us and it’s probably in some instances a perfect derby performance. We spoke yesterday about making sure that we match Wigan’s physicality, deal with their direct play, stop crosses coming into the box because they are really dangerous from them.
“Every single one of the players to a man carried out that information and the second thing which was so important was we needed to play our football, we couldn’t make it become a scrap for the full game because that wouldn’t suit us. We tried to play good football on a difficult pitch and looked really dangerous at times and in the end, I think we deserved that win.
“It’s got to be a fast start in a derby game, we had four-and-a-half thousand fans behind the goal, you’ve got to start quick and we did right from the kick-off, Jack put the ball right in a good area that we needed to, Sam Dalby, who was excellent all day, wins a flick on we end up getting a half chance and a get a corner in two minutes and set the tone. I felt that the players after five or 10 minutes started to settle down and pass the ball, started to get the little movement patterns that we’d worked on during the week in the shape and caused Wigan some problems.
“I thought that we started the second-half quite well, we looked dangerous and got in some really good areas, Sam Dalby had a real good chance when it went just over the bar, and a couple of good moments around the penalty box, and I just thought there was a spell in the game before we made the subs where it became a bit scrappy and Wigan were just getting into it, so making the subs helped and to get some messages onto the players to just relax and start passing the ball again.
“They showed some good game management because in a game like this where it’s intense and a local derby, sometimes you can make rash decisions, we didn’t make too many today so credit to the players.
“Demps and Macca were excellent when they came off the bench to give us energy and showed quality for the goal, and Sheehan scores it from the edge of the box which was brilliant.
“We kept going, kept our belief and in the end got the winner when it was needed.”
Goalkeeper Jack Bonham earned a clean sheet on his Wanderers debut, and Schumacher was pleased with the stopper’s display between the posts.
Schumacher added: “He (Bonham) was calm in all of his decision making, his kicking was excellent, he picked the right times of when to pass and when to go long, he dealt with all the balls that went over the top of him expertly well, and he showed what he was about today.
"He was calm, he didn’t have a shot to save and that’s credit to the 10 lads that are in front of him, they kept Wigan at bay and kept them away from our goal, which was so important so I’m delighted, it’s a really good debut for him, to get a clean sheet and a win in front of them fans, I’m sure he would have enjoyed it.”
Schumacher dedicated Wanderers’ victory to the supporters who cheered on the lads from first kick to last.
He concluded: “Today is for the fans, they’ve travelled up and down the country all season coming to watch us, sometimes we haven’t been good enough, today we were, and they go home happy with a good win here.”
Watch Steven’s post-match interview in full by clicking here!