Salford City boss Karl Robinson was full of praise for his team’s “very classy” 1-0 win over Colchester United.
Striker Cole Stockton came off the bench to score the only goal in Essex as The Ammies ended a five-game winless run in all competitions.
The 31-year-old netted his first league goal since September 12 minutes from time, tapping in from close range after jet-heeled winger Kelly N’mai raced to the byline.
The victory moved Salford into the League Two play-off places after their four successive losses in the competition had seen them drop outside the top seven.
After the match, Robinson admitted that the winless run had taken its toll and said the victory was a testament to his players’ mental toughness.
He said: “It was a very classy team performance and one that I’m very proud of because this is a difficult place to come.
“Our mentality has certainly been challenged, none more so than the last few games, so now our mentality has to be even stronger and make sure we’re at our best even more so on Tuesday.”
Salford City travel to 11th-placed Grimsby Town on Tuesday, looking to make the game in hand they have over their promotion rivals count.
The Ammies have been beaten in their last four midweek matches, including their demoralising 2-1 loss to Shrewsbury Town last Tuesday.
Robinson said that frank conversations held in the fallout of the Shrewsbury loss helped the team to bounce back against Colchester.
“It’s been a really good few days in the build-up to this on the back of some real soul searching,” he explained.
“We’ve come in on Wednesday and had some very honest conversations, and I think you’ve seen a really good Salford team today. We had the best chances, we just didn’t turn them into shots on goal.”
While Robinson felt that his team “deserved to win,” he reserved praise for goalkeeper Matty Young, who made a brilliant double save to prevent Teddy Bishop and then Kyreece Lisbie from giving Colchester the lead in the second half.
He said: “I’ve been to Colchester many times and it’s a hard place to come and play.“If you take away the double save from Youngy from their chances, I thought we had more chances.
“I thought we entered their penalty box a bit more consistently. We’ve just got to find a way of being a bit more ruthless when we get into the final third.
“That will take the pressure off the defenders and it’s hard to keep clean sheets.
“We tried to go back to basics today a bit. We’ve always been a team of basics.
“I’m here to manage the football club and management means that you’re a shield to protect owners, players, staff and through all of the difficult moments, you’ve got to find that within you.“I love my players and I really enjoy my time here.”
