Boss on victory over The Boro...
SADDLERS' boss, Dean Smith was a happy man after seeing his side start the New Year with a hard-earned victory over Stevenage at Banks's Stadium."I felt that it was a deserved win in the end," he said. "It was hard going in the first half, but we rolled our sleeves up and it was a merited three points.
"Stevenage are a well-organised team who are difficult to break down and it took a special goal from Jamie Paterson to settle it.
"We were disappointed to lose Flo Cuvelier early on to another hamstring injury and also Andy Taylor was forced to limp off in the first half.
"At half-time I told the players that we needed to up the tempo; the opening period was too stop-start for my liking after we had started the game well by passing and moving the ball brightly.
"We were the better team in the second half, but, as I say, they were hard to break down and create chances against.
"I'm also pleased that Karl Darlow came in and kept a clean sheet. He is a goalkeeper that we rate very highly and we are grateful to Nottingham Forest for allowing him to return here.
"It means that Aaron McCarey has returned to Wolves; I was really pleased with the contribution that he made over his eight-game spell with us. He came in at a difficult time but helped to get us moving again and played with a maturity beyond his years. I am sure he will go on to carve out a good career for himself in the game and he goes back to Molineux with our best wishes.
"It's good to see us picking up points again. It's all about winning football matches and now we look forward to the next game against Portsmouth on Friday evening."