Paul Cook | “To win 2-0 against such a strong team, we are delighted”
Manager pleased with his side’s fighting qualities as they make it eight unbeaten in the Sky Bet Championship
Cook: “We have made another giant step towards where we want to be, though we have still got a bit to go to make sure because them final steps are stuff.”

Latics manager Paul Cook said his side showed brilliant fighting qualities and game management to grab a late win against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

Reflecting after goals from Lee Evans and Michael Jacobs sealed a 2-0 win at the DW Stadium, Cook said:

“Any win is a big win at this level – we saw the results before we kicked off today with Charlton winning and Luton winning and it’s teams fighting for their lives.

“There were spells in the second-half where Blackburn took control of the game and that’s because they are an excellent team. We had to ride that storm.

“First-half was 50-50 and we both had opportunities and spells but then Blackburn took control and we were hanging on at times. Great credit to the players, though, because they dig in and have learned so much from the early part of the season in terms of how we manage games and how we see them out.

“To win 2-0 against such a strong team, we are delighted.”

Cook’s substitutes Evans and Jacobs got the winning goals late on and the manager spoke of the importance of his squad in the final seven games.

“The game was massively in the balance and especially possession-wise,” Cook said. “Blackburn caused us problems with their formation and we were just tinkering and twisting to try and get some momentum in the game and great credit to Jacobs and Evans coming on to the pitch and scoring.

“Without squads you haven’t got anything and in this next seven games you are going to see squads and team spirit really tested.

“We have made another giant step towards where we want to be, though we have still got a bit to go to make sure because them final steps are stuff.

“If you get ahead of yourself at this level then you get flattened; good runs are like bad runs in that when you’re on them, you think they’ll never end. We are enjoying our wins but the turnaround is quick now and we look forwards to Stoke on Tuesday night. It is a massive game for both clubs and one we are going to prepare the best we can for.”

Paul Cook | “To win 2-0 against such a strong team, we are delighted”