Sean Shields said his individual performance and the team’s overall display was “almost the pinnacle” for him as he scored his first goals at National League level.
Talking to BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster, the winger said: “I want to excite the fans and be someone they enjoy watching, so for a day like today, that’s almost the pinnacle for me because my dribbles have come off, I’ve been positive and scored two goals. This was my first week back from injury, sometimes you can come back and be a little bit jaded or not quite up to the pace but I was still doing a lot of running work so I was keeping myself ticking over and I felt great coming back in this week and ready to go. Whether I’m starting or coming off the bench, I like to think I can always make an impact and I’m ready to play as and when I’m called upon.”
Shields was introduced late in the first half after an injury to Andy Drury and his instructions from Daryl McMahon were simply to do what he does best. “I’m going to play a little bit different to Powelly as I’m a natural winger,” Shields explained. “He’s going play a bit more inside, look to get on the ball in more central areas so [the manager] just said to me play your normal game, stretch the pitch a bit more, be available and just be positive.”
Both Shields’ goals came courtesy of Darren McQueen’s passes and with pace to burn, the pair make a good foil for each other. “Darren’s someone that all teams are going to look to stop,” Shields said, “so it worked out perfectly as two or three players went to close him down and both times he had nice little switches on to me, I was able to get in the box and score both times. Darren’s someone I love to work with, I think we saw it in glimpses last season and hopefully we can see that more this season.”
The popular wide player said he believed the Fleet were better than their recent league position and points toll suggested and he sees no reason they can’t now push on in this division.
“A lot of our draws, we weren’t really getting the rub of the green,” Shields maintained. “Eastleigh scored a lucky deflected goal but we should have been seeing those games out or scoring more goals. We’ve been a lot more solid defensively when we’ve got the goal, they haven’t even looked like scoring, at Boreham Wood or today.
“The league’s been a little bit crazy, it’s still not settled down, you don’t know who’s going to win or be in the play-offs. Any sort of run you can go from relegation up into the play-offs, we’ve just got to stay focused. We’re confident in our individual ability and collectively. I’m not pre-empting anything, but I don’t see any reason we can’t finish in the play-offs.”
Listen to the full interview below.
https://soundcloud.com/eufcofficial/sean-shields-after-halifax
