Steve Cotterill ‘really proud’ to keep Cheltenham in the Football League

Cheltenham boss Steve Cotterill admits keeping the club in the Football League is one of his proudest moments.

The Robins guaranteed their place thanks to a breathtaking second-half display in a 4-0 win at Walsall.

The manager praised his players, staff and supporters, saying: “I’m really proud that the football club will be in the Football League next year.

“It was huge for me and one of the main reasons for me coming back. It was really important, not just professionally but emotionally.

“The team here is like a big family. It is like it was all those years ago when I was first here.

“They always say your last achievement is your best one. I have been incredibly lucky throughout my career to have some unbelievable moments and this will go down as one of those moments.”

Talking about the game, Cotterill added: “We needed to be patient and continue playing the football I have wanted to bring into the football club from the moment I have got here…but we won’t always play like that.

“It was a really emphatic performance and they are a good team with some good players. I thought we were really good and I’m chuffed for the lads.”

The pick of the first-half chances fell to Walsall when, just after the half-hour, Daniel Kanu had a shot that was deflected onto the crossbar before being hoofed to safety.

It was a different story after the break, though, with the Robins taking total control.

The opener came after 56 minutes when, from a corner, Jordan Thomas threaded a pass through for Harry Ashfield to slot home from eight yards.

It was 2-0 in the 63rd minute when Isaac Hutchinson ran through the Walsall midfield before firing home, with George Miller adding a third from close range in the 69th minute.

Substitute Josh Martin completed the scoring in the fourth minute of added time.

Walsall’s interim boss Darren Byfield said: “I was really disappointed with the performance. I know we’ve had a good chance in the first half and hit the bar but we still weren’t good enough. We were really passive and that’s not what I want to see from us.

“As a football club, there are expectations and that’s not it.

“There were too many sideways passes, too many backward passes and we didn’t ask enough questions of them.

“We didn’t win our duels and we didn’t run back. These are things that are required to win a football match.

“We have to look at ourselves and make sure that it doesn’t happen again in our remaining games.

“You have to have a mentality that if you don’t win a game, you still have to take pride in what you are doing and I didn’t see enough of that today.”