Manager Post Cowdenbeath

23/07/16: AJ - "It doesn`t matter who starts everybody is playing for their places just now.

A 3-0 win at Central Park pleased the Pars Manager Allan Johnston. He commented to the press after the win:-

"It was a satisfactory result. We were a bit stop start in the first half but we still had three or four good opportunities. The keeper had pulled off some really good saves.

"We said to the boys at half time that the goals were going to come, just keep the pressure on, keep passing the ball. I know that is difficult with the surface but sometimes you just have to be patient as well. We deservedly got the goals."

The first goal of three did not arrive until 57th minute but the manager was delighted by the manner in which the goals came:-

"Probably last season we never scored enough goals from setpieces so it is good to get a few goals from setpieces. It looks as though we were attacking the ball well but it is all about the delivery as well.

"There was some great delivery, good movement and with the height that we have on the team now we are managing to get some goals from setpieces.

"I thought that there were some good individual performances, especially the two centre halves - I thought they were rock - as well as Andy Geggan getting a couple of goals again, he seems to be on form just now.

"Michael Moffat did well and to be fair Gavin Reilly was in a right few times as well. It was maybe just the final pass, sometimes we need to pass it a little bit quicker. There was a lot of good stuff, the whole team battled well today.

"It was a hard game of football to play, the condition of the pitch is disappointing at this stage of the season so thankfully we are not back here too often!"

The next two Betfred ties are against teams who competed in the Premiership last season but AJ feels that his squad is looking good:-

"There is a lot of competition and guys like Callum Fordyce and Michael Paton are coming back, David Hopkirk and Sean Murdoch is coming back so we have a lot of players missing, a lot of quality but you can see even from the boys that came on, that we have quality players throughout the whole team. It doesn`t matter who starts everybody is playing for their places just now. It keeps everybody on their toes."

Two 3-0 wins instils vital confidence in the team ahead of the matches against Inverness Caley Thistle and Dundee United, the manager continued:-

"Inverness are probably one of the best passing teams in the Premier League, especially when John Hughes was there. It will be interesting to see how good they are and test yourself against the top players because that ultimately is where we want to be."

Cowdenbeath manager Liam Fox was delighted with the format if the Betfred Cup and the opportunity to see his team work out against quality opponents. Listen to his comments by clicking on the audio link below.

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