Leam Richardson | Burton Albion (H) Reaction
Latics' manager reflects on a professional display against Burton Albion on Saturday afternoon.
- Leam Richardson | "We expected a tough task today but I thought our lads came through it well."
- Latics' manager reflects on a professional display against Burton Albion on Saturday
- Richardson: “We’ve had to certainly give Burton our full attention and respect to get the result today."
Leam Richardson felt his side fully deserved their result after they recorded an impressive 2-0 victory over Burton Albion on Saturday afternoon.
James McClean gave Latics the lead in the 10th minute before Curtis Tilt scored a stunning goal at the start of the second period to help Latics wrap up the points at the DW Stadium.
Speaking to Latics TV, Richardson thought his side were good value for their victory in a professional and well-disciplined display.
“It was very good and very professional," Richardson explained. “Credit has got to go to the rest of the staff and the players. They have worked tirelessly hard this week and had a lot of games and training days.
“We’ve had to certainly give Burton our full attention and respect to get the result today. I thought we thoroughly deserved it as well.
“Burton are very well drilled and they’ve got some good players and a good management team. We expected a tough task today but I thought our lads came through it well."
Richardson reshuffled his side for the visit of Burton Albion with Jason Kerr, Tilt and Charlie Wyke replacing Kell Watts, Tom Naylor and the suspended Callum Lang. The Latics manager spoke about the importance of having flexibility within the squad, and being able to adapt to situations across an over 50-game season across league and cup.
“Within the season - it’s something that we’ve spoken about - you have to got to be flexible and adaptable. We’ve had a lot of games in quick succession and our energy levels were a little bit tapered on Tuesday, and then there were injuries and suspensions.
“It’s important that we are able to adapt and overcome certain things and adapt to certain situations and respect the opposition because they do offer a physical task.
“It’s a really big compliment for the likes of Curtis Tilt and Jason Kerr because they’ve waited and been such fantastic professionals. They’ve waited for their turn and trained really hard.
"It's my pressure to get them in the team - not their pressure - but it was their pressure to train right, live right and support the team when it’s not their turn because today they needed everybody to support and they got that.
“I’ve never seen anything won with 11 players and a game won with just 11. You need a squad as there are 40-plus league games and you need a healthy, well-educated squad who are willing to run for each other.
“If you stick together, you will run that extra yard for your teammate and that’s the environment we are trying to build. I thought I saw a lot of that today."