Dave Challinor challenged his Stockport players to keep standards high in their quest for Championship football next season after a 3-1 comeback win over Rotherham.
Mallik Wilks put the Millers ahead at Edgeley Park but Jack Diamond levelled before half-time and Brad Hills and Kyle Wootton completed the turnaround.
Despite all but securing a League One play-off spot, and moving within five points of second-placed Wrexham, Challinor warned his players they must replicate their second-half performance to achieve their ambitions.
He said: “I thought we were flat first half, and when you concede a goal in the manner that we did that only makes it flatter.
“The second half was miles better and that’s what we need to stick to – that’s my message at the end to the players.
“Regardless of what happens this season, whether we stay where we are, whether we get a play-off place and win, whether we get a play-off place and lose, whether we don’t make the play-offs, or we finish second, we’ve got to do it by being us and almost falling on our swords.
“We get the opportunity to do what we did at the end in terms of keeping the ball, and if players aren’t of a nature that want to run then they’re playing for the wrong manager, and that’s something that I’ll never, ever stray away from.
“First half I thought we strayed away from that a little bit. I needed us to look like a team that had everything to play for and I didn’t really see that.”
Rotherham interim boss Matt Hamshaw lamented a key moment with the Millers not being awarded a penalty when Wilks went down in the box, immediately before Wootton scored County’s third on the break.
He said: “I thought first half we started really well. I spoke to the players at half-time and I thought that we got a little bit complacent with the things that we spoke about and stopped doing them, which I re-emphasised second half. We knew they’d come out and have a reaction and they did.
“It’s really difficult because for me, it should be a penalty and it should be 2-2 and then they counter-attack. I’ve been told that every contact in the box isn’t a penalty, but when you’ve got Sam Nombe stood there waiting for a slide across to tap it in if not, it’s a little bit frustrating.
“It’s hard for me to comment on every decision because I’d probably be here for three days. You’re sometimes on the right end of them, you’re sometimes on the wrong end of them, but I just felt that some of the key decisions went against us.”
Interim boss Liam Fox welled up with tears as he reflected on his “pride” at leading Hearts to four straight wins before departing his boyhood club as they prepare to confirm Derek McInnes as their new manager on Monday.With McInnes set to bring his own backroom staff with him from Kilmarnock, it was announced on Saturday that Fox – a childhood Jambo who started both his playing ...
Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor heaped praise on her side’s new celebrity investors after multi-millionaire entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian and his wife, tennis great Serena Williams, flew over for their FA Cup final triumph at Wembley.Sandy Baltimore scored a brace either side of a Catarina Macario goal as Chelsea sealed an unbeaten domestic treble with a 3-0 victory over Manchester United in fron...
Declan Rice’s second-half strike fired Arsenal to a 1-0 win against Newcastle at the Emirates and a place in next season’s Champions League.Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya kept his side in the match with a string of fine saves prior to the interval before Rice delivered from range with 55 minutes gone.Arsenal’s victory moves them five points clear of third-placed Newcastle with jus...
Marco Silva says Harry Wilson will “want to play Brentford every week” after he stung the Bees for a second time this season with the winner in Fulham’s 3-2 west London derby victory at the Gtech Community Stadium.Wilson, who had his contract extended until next summer this week and also scored a stoppage-time double in Fulham’s 2-1 win over Brentford in November, replicate...
Tony Docherty thanked Lyall Cameron for an outstanding career at Dundee after the midfielder signed off in style with a double in victory over St Johnstone.Cameron, who penned a pre-contract with Rangers in February, inspired a 2-0 win that eased the Dark Blues away from the relegation play-off place.The 22-year-old netted after 28 minutes and rounded off a man-of-the-match display with a stoppage...
Nuno Espirito Santo and his Nottingham Forest players dedicated the 2-1 win over West Ham which kept their Champions League hopes alive to stricken team-mate Taiwo Awoniyi.Striker Awoniyi is recovering from emergency abdominal surgery, having been placed in an induced coma, after colliding with a goalpost in last weekend’s Premier League home draw against Leicester.The 27-year-old revealed o...
Michael Wimmer says he is delighted with how Motherwell have ended the season after wrapping up their William Hill Premiership campaign with a 1-1 draw at Ross County.The Steelmen trailed to a Ronan Hale goal on the half-hour mark but improved drastically in the second half and dominated the game in Dingwall.That pressure eventually told, with Moses Ebiye heading in an equaliser with seven minutes...
Dundee secured William Hill Premiership football next season as the departing Lyall Cameron hit a brace to guide them to a 2-0 win at relegated St Johnstone.The 22-year-old penned a pre-contract in February to join Rangers but there were no commitment issues on show from Cameron.He was the star man as Tony Docherty’s team eased away from the relegation play-off place with a well-derserved su...
Stephen Kingsley scored a late winner as 10-man Hearts defeated Kilmarnock 1-0 in an end-of-season William Hill Premiership match played against the backdrop of manager Derek McInnes’ impending switch from Rugby Park to Tynecastle.The Jambos made their move to land Killie’s boss last week, and the deal is set to be officially confirmed on Monday.As a result, McInnes was absent from Rug...
Jamie Vardy wrapped up his Leicester career in style after scoring his 200th goal in his 500th and final appearance for the club in a 2-0 victory over fellow relegated club Ipswich.The 38-year-old former England striker had a fitting finale with the Foxes as be bid farewell to the club exactly 13 years to the day that he signed from Fleetwood for £1million.Vardy leaves with quite the legacy ...
- 1 Richie Wellens hails Leyton Orient’s ‘outstanding’ victory over Stockport
- 2 We will see – no Unai Emery assurances over future of tearful Emiliano Martinez
- 3 Leyton Orient book Wembley date by beating Stockport on penalties
- 4 Liverpool cleared to complete signing
- 5 Brendan Rodgers hits out at ‘needless challenge’ on Reo Hatate
- 6 David Gray thanks Hibernian board for showing faith in him after securing third
- 7 Airdrieonians earn first-leg lead over Cove in play-offs
- 8 Arsenal offer £135k deal to seduce target
- 9 Chris Wilder thinks this could be the year Blades cut it in the play-offs
- 10 Dele Alli’s girlfriend Cindy sets pulses racing in barely