Salford boss Karl Robinson: This has been one of my proudest years as a manager

Salford manager Karl Robinson reflected on one of his “proudest years as a manager” after his side moved closer to League Two’s automatic promotion places with a 3-1 victory over relegation-threatened Barrow.

Ryan Graydon and Fabio Borini put the hosts 2-0 up and although Danny Rose pulled one back for the Bluebirds, a second goal for Borini put the game to bed late on.

A fourth win on the bounce sees the Ammies remain in fifth place, but they are now just two points behind Cambridge in the third and final automatic spot.

And Robinson was full of pride for how his team have performed so far this season, with just eight games of the regular season remaining.

“This has been one of my proudest years as a manager,” he said.

“I think I’ve really found a group of people who’ve certainly found and given me a complete love for football back.

“Okay, it’s unpredictable because there’s a lot of human error and a lot of frustration that aligns itself with that.

“Sometimes football’s gone a bit stale. We speak about the top level, it’s gone a little bit stale in some ways.

“I think one thing that you do get when you come down the levels is a little bit of rawness, a little bit of unpredictability, a little bit of transparency of the human, of the player. And I think that is infectious.

“I’ve loved every second of it so far and long may it continue, winning these games of football.

“Eight games left – it’s going to test us and there’s going to be moments where I don’t know whether my heart is going to take it, but we’re looking forward to it.”

Defeat for Barrow means they are now bottom of the table – two points from safety but with a game in hand on the teams above them.

Player-head coach Sam Foley, who came on as a substitute in the 74th minute, felt there was little to separate the two sides.

“It’s a couple of mistakes that have cost us – a bit of naivety – but apart from that I don’t think there was much to split between the teams,” he said.

“I think we created enough chances, we’ve just got to nullify those mistakes.

“(Given) the position we’re in, we can’t be doing that. But at the same time, I’ve asked the players to play with a bit of freedom and to try and embrace the challenge, so I can’t knock them.

“There’s a few mistakes in there, but we want an environment where you can make mistakes and there’s a fine line between doing what’s right and what’s not right.

“We’ll have to debrief it, but there was a lot of good things in there.

“I think you’ve seen a team change over the last few weeks. There’s a lot to think about but with the predicament we’re in, we’ve got to just pick ourselves up and move onto the next game.”