DINO Maamria praised his team’s desire as they battled to a 1-0 win over Exeter City.
It was the Brewers third victory in a row and owed much to a solid defensive performance as Albion recorded a second consecutive home clean sheet. It was then down to a fine Sam Winnall finish to grab the three points.
The Brewers manager said: “We didn’t control the game, but I have said before that from now until the end of the season it’s not about playing pretty football it’s about winning games and you saw the desire and the commitment of the team to win the game.
“What summed that up was Dale Taylor, our centre forward, tracking back all the way into our corner, battling to win the ball and earning a free kick. That’s the mentality of the team and having that winning attitude is what we are working on day in day out in training and we are showing that resilience on the pitch.
“It’s a fantastic win as it’s different from our other wins. We have been very open all season and when we have won games had to work very hard and score a lot of goals. It’s nice to win it today by getting a clean sheet.”
A disappointment for the Brewers was the early departure of Mark Helm with a thigh injury and Maamria said that had an impact on his team.
“Losing him was a blow for us. We lost Terry Taylor last weekend as well and those two are pivotal to our game, as two playmakers in the middle of the pitch and it showed as we lost a little bit of control. That’s why we conceded so much possession.
“They are a good team. They have been top 10 all season and you can see why. But we still created the better chances overall.”
Maamria was please for Winnall whose season has been dogged by niggling injuries.
“That’s what Sam does. He showed what he can do for us coming off the bench. The last two years he has struggled with injuries but we know what his qualities are and we are trying to use that to our strength.
“Now I want the players to enjoy this feeling, to drink it in almost as that will drive them to go on and win the next game.”