Morecambe manager Jim Bentley admitted the result was more important than the performance after his side’s vital 1-0 win over Crawley at the Globe Arena.
Speaking after Liam Mandeville’s first goal since September had earned the Shrimps a third successive home win Bentley said: “I’m glad it’s over, it was a horrible game to be involved in.
“My head’s banging; when you’re playing a team in and around you, you’ve always got to guard against teams having a bit of an upturn in results.
“You can’t affect anything else that goes on around the country, so it was a massive game for both clubs.
“We’ve been beaten comfortably last week, we’ve won the last two times here and you’re hoping you can the result whichever way it comes.
“Today, I thought it was a poor game; the pitch didn’t play well, they had better chances than us but how many times have I been stood here, earlier in the season when we’ve been beaten and clapped off the pitch?
“It was one of those games where you get over the line and get a win; I don’t think it was a great performance but, the psychological effect and the position we’re in, you look at the other results.
“No-one would have expected Macclesfield Town to get a point at Lincoln City, Notts County going away and winning 3-0, so if you lose today it closes up a little bit but the most important thing was getting the three points.
“I’m not particularly happy with certain aspects of our play but it’s a win in front of our home fans on a big day.
“We’ve kept a clean sheet; I thought Barry Roche did well, the two centre-halves (Sam Lavelle and Steve Old) were superb so there were plenty of positives there.
“The biggest positive obviously was winning the game so we’ll take it as it comes at this stage of the season.
“Today we haven’t played that well but we’ve won the game and we’ll take it.”