Smith reviews the Forest win & previews Brighton
Tommy Smith wants the Terriers to continue their recent good run of form when the players make the long midweek trip to play Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday evening.
Smith was one of the standout performers as the team recorded a second straight win at Nottingham Forest on Saturday, but was keen to share the praise across all the Town players.
“I thought we were brilliant. We had confidence that we could go to the City Ground and get the job done, which we did,” he explained.
“We went in one goal up at half-time through a brilliant goal from Sean (Scannell) and we thought we thoroughly deserved it. During the interval, the Manager said he thought we had more to give; we all agreed and I thought we delivered.
“We work on the defensive shape throughout the week and I thought it showed on Saturday. It wasn’t an easy afternoon, as Forest have good players in their squad, but we stepped up to the occasion. To go to a place like Nottingham Forest and get three points, you have to be on your game and I thought that man for man we were brilliant.”
Tommy has drawn deserved praise from all quarters for the way he dealt with the threat of powerful Forest winger Michail Antonio; the Forest danger-man didn’t affect the game before being substituted.
“It’s given me more confidence to know that I can stand up against one of the best players in the league,” the defender admitted.
“It wasn’t just down to me; I thought Scanz (Sean Scannell) was brilliant playing just in front of me and the whole back line and team did a good defensive job when we had to. It was pretty much a complete performance.”
Since making his Championship debut at Sheffield Wednesday in November 2013, has raced to an impressive total of 67 appearances. Despite this, one thing is still missing – his debut goal!
He laughed: “I try and get forward as much as I can, but when we’re in a game like Saturday – winning 1-0 – it’s difficult to push on! Hopefully I will get one before the end of the season – if it comes, it comes – but if not I’ll try again next year. I’m just happy that we’re winning games; that’s the main thing.
“Recording back-to-back wins in this league is hard to achieve, so to do it by beating Ipswich at home and Forest away is tremendous. All the players deserve full credit.”
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Town’s team now has 51 points with four games remaining and has a very real chance of recording the Club’s best points total at Championship level in 15 years.
Tommy continued: “It’s a good return, but we know we have thrown away some points this season and we’re not too happy about that.
“We really do have a brilliant group of lads; the squad is really together. The camaraderie between the players is brilliant, especially when we win games! That epitomises what this club is about; sticking together through the tough times and bouncing back, as we have done many times this season.
“We still have four games to go and we definitely have to push on and finish the season strongly. That will help us go again next season.”
Next up for Chris Powell’s side is Brighton & Hove Albion on Tuesday, where Smith wants Town to record a third straight Championship win for the first time in the current campaign.
“We’ll go there looking for a hat-trick of wins. Brighton are below us in the division and we’ll go into the game full of confidence after the Ipswich and Nottingham Forest wins. We’ll try to take full advantage of that.”
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