Saturday was a victory but one born through what seems to be luck and superior fitness. Would you agree?
We didn't reach anywhere near our expectations that's true. We came through in the end but we didn't lose sight of the bigger picture after the game.

The Sporting Bengal central midfield pairing of Steven Gajau (5) and Javier Rivier (6) were dominant in the first half. What are your thoughts on the Sporting midfield?
They were good technically but we gave them far too much space and time on the ball, so they did their thing. Once we started to dictate and control the game midway through the second half, they were unable to play the way they wanted and ultimately struggled to be as creative as they were in the first half.

We were being undone by one of the best passing sides I've seen at Burroughs Park for some time. What were you trying to do to stifle the creative elements of their game?
If anything, I think we made them look better than what they are through our own mistakes . We had 10 players (Louis apart) who had off days and you can't carry 10 players. We were fortunate that they didn't convert their first half chances, but that is their problem, not ours. We took ours in the second half and it's the goals that count.

It was evident that had their forwards got their shooting boots on, we could have been down and out by a big margin in the first half. You pulled the team off quickly at half time. What did you say to the players in the dressing room?
I left them clear in no uncertain terms that the performance was unacceptable and then we moved on to how we would rectify things and come out the way we should have from the start.

The second half started brighter but we conceded early on. Did you still have faith that the abilities of your players would come to the fore?
I think the best thing that happened to us is that they scored as the game was going nowhere. With the attackers I've got I'm always confident we will score.

The goal seemed to kick-start the Rovers and almost immediately after the substitutions, we grabbed an equaliser and never looked back. Did the players sense the game was there for the taking?
Yes that, and they knew there were goals to be had out there and strikers should be desperate to score goals every game!! .

Sporting Bengal began to tire with around 20 minutes to go yet Rovers were still chasing balls down. Is this testament to how well your pre-season training has helped?
We worked hard and I think the boys look after themselves away from the club now. I'm hoping we've instilled a different mentality to playing for the club!. They realise if we are going to get anywhere we need to have that base-level of fitness.

Jay Nash grabbed a couple and this will help his confidence immensely won't it?
I've got every confidence in Nashy. He is a great lad, works hard and got his reward on Saturday, and I was more impressed with his 5 yard effort than his edge of the box one, because that's where I want him to be , in the 6 yard box sniffing for chances.

One player stood out for me with how eager he was to get the ball and I made him Man of the Match, Ashley Hawkins. He may not have scored but played a big part, just like all of your forwards in the end.
All of the Rovers forwards have grabbed goals this season but is this the best group of forwards Rovers have assembled for a while?
Ash has been fantastic so far . He's a perfectionist and is never happy with himself. He is a very clever player who can play multiple positions. Jimmy Webb has also been excellent and if you add those 2 to Nashy ,Luca and Willo then you can see I've got 5 forwards who I think are all capable of scoring 20+ goals each.

A 5-2 scoreline was flattering, but you can only play who you have in front of you and Sporting seemed to fall apart once we scored our second. I suspect this would be different in the Ryman?
The principle is the same , you have to kill a teams belief. In any level if a team who are favourites score then there is a sense of inevitability from the other side that they are destined to lose , be it Essex Senior League or Barcelona.

We're up to second and you said at the start of the season that you wanted to make Burroughs Park a fortress. Coming to fruition?
All we can do is try to win every game . We have to get that winning mentality and it's coming. To install that little bit of invincibility at your home ground can be of help just as much as a hinderance. We've got some big tests coming up this month, and this league can bite you very quickly.