Source: FOOTYMAD
Derby win just the tonic
Dickov - "Nobody was more disappointed with the first week of the season than I was" The Latics earned their first home win of the season, a derby victory over Rochdale, at Boundary Park on Saturday. New signing Nathan Clarke capped a dream debut by scoring a first-half header while former Athletic centre-back Neal Trotman was sent off in the first half red. Reuben Reid scored his his third penalty after Trotman had bundled over Chris Taylor. Manager Paul Dickov said, “I asked the boys, before anything football-wise, to give me desire, commitment and the right attitude. They did that and got the rewards. In the second half, with Rochdale down to 10 men, people look for you to score more goals. But if you think back to last season, we have been in that position before, ahead at half-time and lost. We have been up against nine and 10 men and let them back in. We could have had a few more goals. They sat off and playing against 10 is hard to do sometimes. But we asked for three points, goals and a clean sheet and we got that.” “Nobody was more disappointed with the first week of the season than I was. I wanted to drum into the boys what was required. We were playing well until we conceded and heads went down a bit too easily. We asked them to give everything at Scunthorpe, regardless of whether we won, lost or drew. And that was the starting point again here. The pleasing thing for me is, we are getting people into the box. Last season we didn’t have enough players in the box when we went wide or when we were attacking. You make your own luck sometimes. But as delighted as I am at winning three points, there are still things we can be better at.”
