Bootle manager Steve McNulty praised his side after ending their winless run with a comprehensive win over Glossop North End.
Talismen Ben Hodkinson, Jack McGowan and Tom Peterson all found the back of the net to give the Bucks a three-point cushion outside the bottom four. The win takes to within just six points of the playoff places.
The win also marked the first clean sheet since the former Tranmere Rovers and Luton Town defender took charge. That was largely down to on-loan goalkeeper Wyll Stanway’s superb stop from the penalty spot.
For McNulty, it’s a result that has been coming. He told Off The Park: “The last couple of games I thought the performance has been good, not got the points we deserve but Saturday was a good away performance, had a couple of chances before they had a pen.
“Wyll made a great save from the penalty, goals change games but we could’ve been a couple, if not one before they got the pen but Wyll’s made a great save and we’ve come out second-half and took the game to them.
“I thought it was an all-round great away performance, to a man, thought everyone did great, put in a performance.
“You make your own luck, maybe in the last few weeks we haven’t had any luck but you make your own. Wyll’s made the save then goals change games and we’ve got the next goal, the first and I thought only one team was going to win it after that, we all dug in, played well and got the win.
“I thought the front four were a handful throughout and could’ve added to the three but you take the 3-0 win,” he added paying tribute to his attackers. “We defended great as well, the back four, the first clean sheet since I’ve been in, plenty of positives but plenty to work on and that’s what we’ll be doing.”
The difficult run was sparked after their brilliant win away at Macclesfield but also saw their winless run commence. Whilst the period caused concerns, both the Bucks boss and assistant manager Carl Macauley were under no illusions that they could heed the concerns.
“We never questioned ourselves, obviously it’s been tough, there’s certain players we want to bring in which we haven’t been able to do at this present time but we’ve got to believe in what we’re doing, it’s a process and it’s going to take time,” McNulty said of the process in place.
‘We believe in what we’re doing, I don’t want to go through 50 players in a season, if it means waiting a couple of weeks to get the right person then that’s something that we will do but I’ve never doubted what we’re doing.
“Me and Carl believe in what we want to do, it’s a building process, we will get it right and build a good team there, we just need to add a few more.
“There’s already great players with loads of ability, we just need to add a few more to strengthen the squad, some competition for places it’ll be good for everyone and get a good squad, one that can and will compete.
“We’re three unbeaten, two draws, it’s another tough game but one we’ll be going into full of confidence, something we’re going into looking to win,” he said ahead of this weekend’s derby clash. “There’s no easy in this league but we’ll prepare right, be getting ready to go there, playing at home, we need to turn it into a bit of a fortress if we want to climb the table so that’s something we’re looking to do.
“I keep saying to lads, never too high, never too low, we’re going to taste defeat again at some point but hopefully it won’t be for a long time.
‘We’ve got to find a happy medium, keep building on what we’re doing and confident we can.”
Saturday sees McNulty in the dugout against a former teammate in Richard Brodie, who played together at York City. However, the Bootle boss wasn’t interested in the history of the respective manager’s, heaping his intent on picking up three points.
“We always have desire to win a football match, there will be nothing extra on the game, we’ll be going in professional, preparing the lads right.
“It’s just another game but one we want to win, there’s no added pressure, needle, the desire will always be there to want to win the game so nothing will change Saturday.”
