It was a very poor performance - unacceptable

Last updated : 26 February 2013 By Tony Scholes

After the game Robins said: "It's a brilliant, an absolutely brilliant feeling. I think we deserved it and could have had a few more goals. We have got a lot of work on to get playing the way I want the team to play, but what I have got is a bunch of players who are workmanlike and have a never say die attitude.

"The players are playing for the supporters and the badge on the front of their shirts, and that is really important. The club and the owner have worked very hard and the supporters have backed the team through various League One campaigns to get to this stage. It is important that we fight with everything that we have to maintain and improve upon performances.

"I want us to pass the ball, but because confidence has been a little bit low that has been difficult. We have got players capable of doing it and we just need to try and combine all the players' playing styles into one that suits us.

"In the second half they gave me an insight into what they are capable of doing. They have set the standard with their work rate and the way that they have gone about their business. Every single one of them has put in a real shift, so it is important that we recover correctly ready to go again against Brighton.

"If we can continue to keep clean sheets I will be delighted because we are likely to nick one or two. The defenders have been fantastic tonight, all four of them were outstanding. Alex Smithies' save at the end to seal the points was magnificent. I am absolutely made up. The last two games should give us confidence going into Brighton and Middlesbrough."

A good night for Robins but not for Dyche who described our performance as unacceptable. “It was a very poor performance, well below par for what we expect from this group of players, unacceptable,” he said.

“I have spoken to the players and asked them about it. We won four out of five and were flying and then we’ve had an awkward run. Performances haven’t been too bad, particularly in the last two games, but then tonight was just a very poor performance.

“It does happen, but it was exaggerated tonight and, like I say, unacceptable from this group, because they are a good group. They know it and they know they have to come out fighting and give more on Saturday.”

He added: “Tonight was a big game for us and maybe that’s something we have to look at with the players because in the big games we need them to stand up. They haven’t tonight and that was a big challenge for us, to re-ignite that little spell and get ourselves into a position to keep challenging.

“The crowd gets edgy, which makes the players edgy, but that’s part of the job. It’s not always good news in football. There are plenty of challenges and you have to play through them. 

“The shape of the team wasn’t good tonight, which is unusual for us. There was no lack of effort, but it was misguided effort. We talk about working hard but we talk about working smart and we didn’t work smart tonight.

“We hit the bar and had a few hard luck stories but we’ve had too many of those lately and that’s got to change, it’s as simple as that.

“It’s important we get on the front foot and we deliver. We will change what we need to and go again. We need to look at it, address it and we will change where it needs to be. We have a massive amount of work to do and it’s there to be done.”