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JP
Standing in for Greg Abbott who is not very well today, an excellent win for you, you must be very happy with that?
GK
Very, very pleased, it is a difficult place to come and obviously get the three points. Possibly they were the better team in terms of pleasing on the eye and the way they passed the ball.
But great honesty, determination and desire, all the words that aren't particularly nice I suppose from the aspect of looking at the game. But certainly in terms of us as a football team we would never feel embarrassed by it, they are great attributes to have and we showed them in abundance today.
JP
Would you agree that it was a very professional job today? You kept Brighton at arm's length, they only really broke you down just the one time and you got the goals that you needed.
GK
We did, up to the first 20 minutes we felt they were on top and we changed our shape to combat them. Because they were very brave, the two centre-halves (Adam El-Abd and Tommy Elphick) split, got the ball and nearly played as full-backs in possession of the ball, which caused us a problem at the back and in the midfield.
But we sorted that out pretty quickly and we felt that we imposed ourselves on the game. When you have got quality like Ian Harte, a fantastic goal, everybody on the bench actually felt that it was a good opportunity for him. Just from his whole body language it seemed that he was going to score and luckily for us he did.
Great endeavour as I say and great honesty by the lads, great work ethic by the team and no little amount of quality either. Because it is a difficult pitch, very, very bobbly, very difficult to get the ball down but we tried to do that and we did it well at times.
JP
I do want to ask you more about Ian Harte's goal because it was truly fantastic. But in this first real go for you as a manager today, what did it feel like when you conceded that late equaliser only to go down the other end pretty much and get the winner?
GK
Well that is why I am talking about our character, we scored a goal before that and that was disallowed, and I was jumping for joy thinking that was it, game over, 2-0. Then they more or less go up the other end and score and it took the wind out of our sails.
But in all honesty I felt it was coming, they had the momentum at this stage and as much as we defended well they were getting the ball into dangerous areas, especially from the wide.
They were putting in deliveries that were causing us problems, and when the goal came I thought OK, we would be happy with a point so to speak away from home. But all credit to the lads, they never gave up, we changed the shape again, we went from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 then back to a 4-4-2.
The really, really pleasing thing today was, and we just said it there in the dressing-room, is all season it is vitally important when you are not playing and you are on the bench, that you come off the bench and make some sort of an impact.
Don't just sit there and sulk and look at the rest of the players, try to observe and see if you get the opportunity how you can actually manufacture a goalscoring opportunity and what you can deliver for the side.
Gary Madine, Ryan Bowman and Tony Kane came on and they did really, really well, so that is a really, really pleasing aspect of today. On top of the three points it is something that we can take and use as a very big positive.
JP
A little bit of what Gary Madine has always shown that promise of as well isn't it, that opportunity to score the goals. He didn't have a great deal of time, he didn't have a great deal by way of opportunities but was there when it counted for you.
GK
Well that is it, you ask the best and the best was probably Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. He didn't have too many minutes on the park but when he did he scored goals invariably. I am not saying Gary Madine is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, that is far too big a weight to be putting on his shoulders.
But a really inviting ball in by Hartey teasing the goalkeeper (Petr Brezovan) to come. It was fading towards Gary, he gets his head on it, he is brave, he could have got a punch in the head, but he gets the goal.
We are going home now three points better off, I think we are already three points (four - ed) than where we finished last season, and still with five games to go. The message that we are sending out to the group and to the club is that we are not resting on our laurels, we want to finish as high as possible.
Because momentum in football is huge and if we can finish the season well, invariably the teams I have been involved in over my career start the season well, and that is vitally important. We certainly can't coast and we are not going to look to do that at all.
JP
How did you find it as an experience having that opportunity to manage the team today?
GK
Well it was very much at the last minute, the gaffer (Greg Abbott) woke up this morning, he looked like a bag of the proverbial. He didn't feel well, he didn't sound very well. But he didn't let the lads see that, he just came in, did his team-talk prior to the game and basically left me to it.
We were in contact through the phone and the lads were saying beforehand if I was going to be one of those cool managers who takes it all nice and easy on the sideline. It is all well and good being that way but you get so much caught up in the game that I can understand now the likes of Martin O'Neill and a few others get so emotional.
Because you really do, you get so involved and you just obviously want yourself and the team and the manager and all the fans who have been brilliant to get behind us, and obviously to reward them with a victory. So sometimes it is better to be a lucky manager than a good one.
JP
Do you feel you were lucky today?
GK
I feel we were lucky today in the sense that when they had all the momentum and they got that first goal, we had kept them at bay for such a long period. You just felt that the momentum was swinging with them, but once we got the second goal, and all credit to the lads.
I think the experienced lads today were immense right through the middle of the team. Everybody played very well but to hold it together, to keep us compact, to not lose their head, and a great ball and a great delivery in by Hartey to tease the keeper to come and then we go and get the goal. So a really, really pleasing victory.
JP
And a hand in the winning goal as you said with the ball in, you must tell us, did you know when he set up for that free-kick, did you have a feeling watching his body language and his shape?
GK
I knew all the way (laughs). No, to be fair Hartey is one of those, I played with him in the Irish team. I remember Shay Given was in goal and time after time Hartey would hit the top corner, and to be fair to Shay he invariably saved them.
The quality he has in and around the goal is scarey, I have spoken to Premier League players who have said they would love to have a player with that ability. Probably there are not too many with that ability even now in the Premier League, and that is the highest compliment I could probably pay Hartey.
But he has just got the knack of being able to deliver, get it up and down with pace. It was into the sun which probably made it a little bit more difficult for their keeper as well. But he has got that in the locker all day and he will never lose that.
JP
Well a fantastic job by you in your first stint as manager, do you just get that feeling that you would like to do it again one day then having had this little experience?
GK
I feel worn out to be totally honest, I feel like I have played a game. No, listen, the manager is doing a fantastic job, he has been different class, he has been different class with me, he has been different class since he has come into the football club.
I think last season when we were in the situation we were in we really needed to pull together, we needed a group that was united. I think now we are starting to see that, I think the honesty and everything that you ask for from the players. Obviously we want to add a little bit more quality, of course we do.
But when we can't get that quality for whatever reason, because the opposition are playing well and the pitch isn't good enough, that honesty can shine. That is all credit to the manager, he has signed good players, he has signed good characters probably more importantly and he has done a wonderful job.
JP
I must let you go here because it is a long trip home for everyone, but just finally, what about the fans? A long, long way, 150 yards we reckon from the goal where Ian Harte's free-kick went in. A tough, tough trip for them to come this far and get to see hardly anything. And a nice gesture from Ian Harte giving a young lad at the end his football boots as well.
GK
Well that is why I am talking about good characters, you have good people in the club who appreciate the fans. It is a ridiculously long journey for them to come today and support their football club. To get right behind us the way they did, they are just absolutely simply magnificent.
It is hats off to them, it is a big thank you, we said at home that we would love to obviously have more people in the stadium. Hopefully that will be the case and people will get behind us. Because as we all know, the attendances haven't been probably what the club expected, and certainly maybe what the performances deserve.
But all credit to the fans, it is such a long, long journey and such an expensive journey at this economic time. All I can say is a big, big thank you and hopefully in some way we have repaid them today with three points.