Jordan Clarke has heaped praise on the confidence shown by his teammates ahead of big games, especially Iron ‘keeper Matt Gilks.
The 35-year-old wasn’t called on too often but when he was he pulled off some extraordinary saves to keep Bradford out and the score fixed at 1-2.
Clarke believes that there are a few positive differences between this year’s squad and that of last season, especially going into the big games. He explained what those differences are in an exclusive interview with iFollow Iron.
ON THE CONFIDENCE LEVELS…
JC: Every win is massive but here (Bradford) has always been a tough place to come. For me personally, the difference between last year and this year is that beforehand I’ve always come here and thought that we will have a tough game. That’s a negative thought. This time though, I thought that we were going to get something. For me, that’s the main difference between this season and last and that only helps going into another big game against Charlton at home this weekend.
ON MAKING IT FIVE LEAGUE WINS IN A ROW…
JC: It’s massive for us, especially coming to a place like Bradford. They put pressure on and make it difficult but I feel as though with the mind state that we’re all in at the moment and the way that we are digging, we felt really confident coming here. Overall, our performance merited our win. We deserved it.
ON EVERYONE WORKING FOR ONE-ANOTHER...
JC: It’s another one of the main differences between this season and last season. We all feel solid and we’re all confident in each other, both at the back and up-front. Everyone is working for each other. We’re all working together, we’ve all got that mind-set at the minute and we’re all in-sync. It’s a completely different feel at the moment but we want to just keep going, keep performing and keep picking up any points that we can.
"Everyone is working for each other. We’re all working together, we’ve all got that mind-set at the minute and we’re all in-sync."
ON THE PERFORMANCE OF MATT GILKS…
JC: Gillo (Matt Gilks) has come in and he’s been unbelievable for us. He’s a professional off the pitch but on the pitch he’s unreal for us. He controls the back four, leads us and is always there when called upon. You can’t ask for more from a goalkeeper and it’s up to us in front of him to help him out as well. I think that we are doing that. Whoever is in that back four, we all work well together.
ON ANOTHER GOAL FROM CAMERON BURGESS...
JC: If anyone can score it’s a bonus but when we have set-pieces and our bigger lads who should be winning the majority of the headers are chipping in, it’s fantastic. Wherever goals come from, we’ll take them. Cameron has done really well since coming in. It’s been a big difference for him as he has gone from not being involved to being completely involved in the starting XI. However, despite that, he’s performed well and we’ve all felt solid. Likewise with Charlie Goode. When he came in he helped to keep two clean sheets and gave two solid performances. That’s a real positive because people who haven’t been playing are coming in and slotting in seamlessly.
ON HIS PERFORMANCE IN THE GAME…
JC: I’ve been focusing on being very consistent week-in week-out. I feel as though if Haks (Hakeeb Adelakun) or Duane (Holmes) are in front of me it gives me free reign as they’re both unreal and have the potential to turn a game on its head. That gives me confidence. They’re helping me to come out of my shell. Going forward we are a force to be reckoned with, especially down that side. Defensively, I have always been confident. As a team we all feel quite solid. In terms of my performance today, I feel that I’ve done well and long may it continue. 
ON THE DOUBLE-SAVE FROM THE BANTAMS ‘KEEPER…
JC: I’d just gone to bang it across and hopefully get a deflection but then I looked at it and saw that it was going into the far corner. The ‘keeper realised at the last minute, scrambled back and got the save. Following that, we had another effort but he saved that as well. It just wasn’t to be but the main thing is that Haks got the goal and we at the back kept Bradford out. We blocked shots, blocked crosses and got the ball up the pitch for the front lads to hold onto late in the game. It was a team effort and I feel that we deserved what we got.
ON SEEING OUT THE RESULT…
JC: We’ve always felt solid but that today was a massive confidence boost. What we did today was a continuation of what we have been doing and I’m really pleased with that.
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