Manager Russ Wilcox hopes that leading scorer Sam Winnall has one hand on the Golden Boot after taking his tally to 21 league goals.
Winnall netted one goal in each half to seal the 2-0 away win, with Gary McSheffrey claiming the assist for both strikes – with a distinct similarity between the goals evident.“We speak all the time about set-plays,” Wilcox told The Iron Player.
“They’re important at any level, but certainly at this level, a lot of goals are scored from set-plays. I thought, to be honest, that was the only way Cheltenham might score tonight. We spoke at half time about not giving cheap free kicks away and I still thought we gave too many.
“McSheffrey’s delivery was unbelievable and that’s been the difference. That’s why he’s played at a top level. He’s good at putting it on a sixpence and they’re two fantastic finishes; the first one especially.”
Winnall latched onto the end of a right wing inswinging ball from the winger, which was poorly defended by the Robins and initially missed by the attacking Canavan. The ball fell nicely for him to hook home his 20th of the season, firing high into the roof of the net in front of the visiting support.
His second saw him providing a bullet header past the home shotstopper Scott Brown to seal the three points
“His first was a great finish. It ricochet’s and it’s a scissor volley, if you like,” he continued.
“His second was a terrific header and it was a great time to score the second one as well. Then you have to look at another massive moment in the game soon after – the penalty save. That has to come into play, because if it goes 2-1, we’ve been there before and we know what it is about.”
He added: “25 minutes were left, but that knocked the stuffing out of them really, because that was their key moment. We saw out the rest of the game well.”
With seven games remaining and Rochdale’s Scott Hogan still out injured, Winnall appears to have one hand on the Golden Boot; something which the United manager hopes arrives along with promotion to League One.
“I certainly hope that’s the case,” said Wilcox.
“You hope it will be celebrations all round. You would hope he gets the Golden Boot and we get promoted – then everybody is happy.”
Captain of the side, Sam Slocombe, also marked a good performance and clean sheet by saving a penalty kick on the hour, with the Iron boss heaping praise on the shotstopper.
“He’s done great,” he continued.
“He’s done his homework – it’s down to that. As a group collectively, they also work well as individuals in doing their homework and their extra little bits. It’s not just down to the coaching staff. They’re all committed to improve as players individually and collectively.”
“Sam does his homework, he watches the DVD’s and I think Richards has gone that way the last seven times. If I was him, I’d think someone would do their homework one day and maybe put one the other side, but thankfully tonight he’s gone that way tonight.”
He added: “He’s gone that way tonight, it’s a good height, but he’s an agile keeper and done well to get across to it. That’s like scoring a goal for Sam. Both the Sam’s have played a massive part tonight.”
See much more from Russ Wilcox, Sam Winnall and Sam Slocombe on The Iron Player.