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Cheltenham Town manager Paul Buckle hails Liverpool gamble

4 January 2015

Cheltenham Town manager Paul Buckle admitted his gamble of bringing in three young Liverpool loans and throwing them in for their Football League debuts had produced a staggering instant success.

Jack Dunn and Kevin Stewart both scored in a 2-1 victory over Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium which was the Robins' first league win since October, and their first success under new boss Buckle.

Centre-back Lloyd Jones, midfielder Stewart and striker Dunn, who were only signed 48 hours before kick-off, all impressed as Cheltenham overcame a shaky start to claim a vital win.

Buckle said: "What I've done in bringing the lads in has paid off.

"You always fancy someone like Jack to score, he's got quality. The strikers' workrate was phenomenal.

"All three did very well. It was positive by us to bring them in.

"It was always going to take time to gel and I thought that showed in the first 30 minutes because we started poorly and Oxford had control of the game.

"But we got to grips with them tactically and stopped them.

"When Jack scored it was the first time in the game that we got the ball wide. I'd been screaming at us to do that.

"That created the avenue for Jack and it was a stunning finish, a real finisher's finish. And it was a brilliant time to score.

"Kevin's goal was really well worked from us. We'd worked a lot in training on short corners because we thought Oxford might be vulnerable there. I thought we looked dangerous at corners all game, and it was a good strike from him.

"Trevor Carson made a great save in the second half but I thought then that Cheltenham were the better side.

"With the work that the staff and players have put in, we deserve that result.  We're looking fit and looking strong, but we've still got loads to work on.

"We've been getting there. I think this win has been coming, and I'm glad with the style we did it in.

"Hopefully we can kick on now. We'll take an awful lot of belief."

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