First Home Win For Grant

Grant Joshua was pleased to get his first home win as Rugby Town boss over Racing Club Warwick in the Isuzu FA Trophy.

The 4-1 Warwick victory on Saturday represented Joshua's first victory at Butlin Road and also ended a torrid run for the club in the FA Trophy where the club had not recorded a win since 2010.

Joshua quick to pay tribute to the supporters after the final whistle: "First and foremost I'm pleased for the supporters who have waited too long to see a home win.

"I thought they were brilliant on Saturday, a fantastic atmosphere in the ground. Always good for the club to progress in this competition and we look forward to the draw.”

Joshua felt his side fully deserved the result, even if the visitors were reduced to ten men during the second half. "I do think we were worthy winners on the day.

"I’m always sceptical when teams go down to ten men – I thought we were better against 11 and that’s the way it is sometimes.

"We moved the ball around again but we have to have more tempo in our game to create even more openings.”

With injuries limiting options in defence, Joshua praised the adaptability of Olly West, who stepped into a makeshift centre-back role.

"Big credit to Olly today who's had to play centre back because we are literally bare bones currently in defensive areas but he did it really well and started our play off from that deeper role."

The manager also highlighted a number of strong individual displays, picking out midfielder Caine Elliott and new arrival Stan Anaebonam. "We’ve had some good performances on Saturday and we’ve carried on from the Belper game in many aspects.

"Caine for me yet again was standout on the pitch, he’s getting more confident by the game and he should be scoring frequently with the quality he possesses.

"Stan took his goal really well, bit of class, he’s still some way off match sharpness and overall baseline fitness compared to where I like my players but those 70 minutes today will help and I’m sure he’ll bounce into training next week and get his head down and will be pushing for a place in the 11 next week.”

Most pleasing of all for Joshua was the way his side responded to going behind early on. "We spoke about mentality and belief before kick off and it’s all that’s missing from this group so I’m pleased that when we went one down, we kept playing, didn’t panic and really turned the screw when we needed to and came out on top."

Attention now turns back to league action with next weekend’s trip to Loughborough Students. "A week’s worth of recovery, preparation & planning will go into the Loughborough game on Saturday."