Lawrie Wilson returned to the starting lineup at Enfield to make his 65th appearance for the club and thinks the week’s break from the National League will aid the Fleet players.
Wilson, who won the FA Trophy with Stevenage in 2009 and was a runner-up in 2010, told BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster: “It’s quite nice to have a break within the league. The position we’re in, it puts a lot of pressure on people, so to come here and to get the early goal was key.
“And we then suddenly started to grow in confidence, you start to see the players suddenly start wanting the ball, the midfielders start getting on it whereas sometimes in the league we’ve held on and you get a little bit nervy. So I think it was a good game for us all round.”
And Wilson echoed his manager’s thoughts that the renewed confidence coursing through the side needs to be applied over the coming Christmas fixtures.
“It definitely felt like a defeat last week [against Eastleigh] and coming into this game, like I said it was a nice break. We had nothing to lose and go out and play how we know we can play. Let’s hope we can take confidence from this; it’s two defeats in 12 so hopefully we can grow on that, start changing the draws to wins and start moving up the table.
“The Christmas period, we know games comes thick and fast which is a good thing if we’re on form or we’re playing well, it’s quite nice to keep churning out these games. And playing teams in and around us that we think we can grow points on which is always key.
“If we can get out of it come early next year then we can kick on, but I think we just take each game as we can and keep going, keep performing well and hopefully the results look after themselves.”
For the player himself, it was good to be back out on the pitch after returning to fitness and having to bide his time given the good form of Marvel Ekpiteta.
“I’m really happy,” Wilson said. “I was away with the injury and then the gaffer came in and changed everything around and it’s been good so far so I’ve not been able to get back since I’ve been back fit. I’m an experienced pro, I understand football and you have to sit patiently and wait, do the right things off the field and be ready for when you do get a chance. Marvel had a slight niggle so I’ve come in, kept a clean sheet and we’ve won the game so it gives the gaffer a headache which is all you can do as a player.
“Everything [at Enfield] ticked the boxes. It’s one of those places, it’s a banana skin. I think we’ve done well, we’ve come here, been professional, we’ve kept a clean sheet which is also very nice for the back four – and five with the goalie – and we’ve nicked a couple of goals and probably should have had a couple more so all in all it’s a good result and into the next round.”
