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" I thought that they were terrific, I thought that they really, really were. Joe in the first-half we thought was very effective, he has caused them loads of problems, they couldn't cope with his pace. Hence them making a substitution after about 30 minutes or something like that.
" Lewis Neal was very clever, he has got ability, he has got a good football brain, he handles the ball really well, he has made a fantastic movement for the goal, for the first goal across the face of their back four. He got in, played a nice pass to Joe and then we just thought that Joe in the first 45 minutes was just too hard for them to handle.
" Tony Kane we think has been, we are keeping quiet about Tony in our own head to think that he could be a really good player for us. The first signs are very, very encouraging I have to say and I thought that on Saturday he has come in there as if he has been playing for us a long, long time. That is obviously his first full game with us, we have done one session on the back four work which he has been able to join in, so if you take that into consideration I think that his performance was top drawer.
" I think you might find that something is already being done about tying them down longer-term but verbally we want to keep them. Both players (Burns and Neal) know that we want to keep them for longer, practically it was the right thing to do to do the situation with Lewis getting us out from Preston to do the deal, and the same with Blackburn. "
" We are trying to talk to them about a longer thing though, they were never coming in as loan players, they were coming in as targets that we wanted to keep for a longer period. The situation is that we have been helped out by their clubs to pay part of their existing contracts to enable to us to get somewhere near doing a deal. "
" This period that we have got gives both parties opportunities, and obviously if they play like they are then it is going to flavour it to force us into doing something quicker rather than later. With Tony we can't do anything, with Lewis he is a free agent with his contract being sorted out at Preston. That would be another big signing for us but it is one that we want to let him have a good look at us and we want to have a good look at him.
" We believe that we knew enough about both of them, and certainly about Lewis that he would come in and be a terrific acquisition. I think that his first two games, again he has not been playing since November and he is still not quite match-fit. I think that what you have seen though is a player that could be a terrific player for this football club.
" We don't want to leave him and we are not going to leave him too long, we will have to sit down with him and ask him if everything is OK with him. Tell him that we like what we see, ask him if he likes what he sees and try to do something because there is a lot of interest in him. So we will be fighting to keep Lewis, as we will Tony because I think that again we have seen enough in the character and enough encouragement in his first performances in the games and training to want to do something with him as well.
" Cleveland (Taylor) has been terrific in the last six to eight weeks, he has been fantastic. He is actually an inspiration, I used that word today about Cleveland, he is an inspiration. He comes in and whatever we have done, win, lose or draw, however he has played, and to be fair he has been very consistent of late, he enjoys coming into work.
" He lifts people around him and people like him are vital in a football club. He is a joy to work with and all the players love him, the players absolutely love him to bits and when anybody is down he has always got a wisecrack and he has always got a bit of something to encourage people. I think that his performances on the pitch are getting better and better and better and on Saturday I just think that he annihilated the left-back (Jim McNulty). When you think that their left-back cost £150,000 and he will be on top whack wages to go with that.
" I think that Cleveland is winning everybody over and rightly so, he has been an absolute inspiration in terms of what he gives you, even when he is playing badly he will work his socks off. He has had criticisms from sections of the crowd, he has dealt with that and I have to say that is such a difficult thing to do. "
" If you look at Jermaine Beckford, he never did it, he got criticised from our fans and he never did it here, he was down on his boots and that is what happens. Players absolutely lose their confidence when they find criticism as hard as that to deal with. He has gone on though and he has become what we thought he was, a good player.
" Cleveland is dealing with it, he has found his way of dealing with it and in his games and his performances he has been outstanding, in these last six weeks he has probably been our best player. Around the training ground he is terrific, he doesn't let anybody get upset, he doesn't let anybody get down. "
" He actually helps me do my job because when we have had a poor performance like the Colchester one he is the first one to rally the troops and say to come on and that we have got another game to look forward to. He'll say that we have got to get on with it and that we know that we can do better. For someone who is such a lively character, when he does say something it is actually the right thing, even if it is in a jovial way.
" From me and Dennis (Booth) and the back-room staff, we enjoy working with him and I think that the fans enjoy watching him when he is giving his all. There is no doubt that he makes his mistakes but what he does is that he makes them with a genuine honesty and that is fantastic and you can always back that.
" I have got three terrific characters at centre-half now, Danny (Livesey) has got out with his injury but I have got three good characters. People who are genuinely honest people and want to do well as football players. I had a conversation with Richard (Keogh), it lasted about an hour, we had a heart to heart, we had a really honest conversation and he left it saying that he was going to roll his sleeves up and give 100%.
" He said that he was going to make it impossible for me to ignore him, that he was going to work his way back into the team and then when he got in there that he was going to stay there. I got up, I shook his hand and I said end of conversation and that is what I wanted to hear. He has proved it on Saturday, he has come in, his guts and determination, he has got some ability, he has got his goal, he made his mistake and I told him about that as well. "
" We will go with that, we will go with honest mistakes, it is making them on a consistent basis that puts you under pressure to hold your place. He has given a thoroughly honest performance as a centre-half though and he has come out of it with his goal, which is always nice for a centre-half.
" Gavin (Rothery) has done ever so well, he scored his goal again on Wednesday night against Tranmere. Gavin has got to prove to us that he is better than what we have got already around the club. That will be the decision that I have to make, will he go past players we have already got. If he doesn't then there is no point doing it. If he is then he is going to become a very good player and a nice one for us.
" We have got loan people there ready to do jobs if our situation gets to a stage where I think that we need them. People as well, they know of players that we have got available and if the phone rings and it is right for the players then we will let them do that. Nothing at the moment though, absolutely nothing, there won't be another Tony Kane walk in without you knowing yet.
" I think that the work we are doing though, and Dennis isn't here today and tomorrow, Dennis Booth won't be with me today and tomorrow. He is out, he will be watching three games, possibly four, in the next two days. Looking at these type of players and seeing where we can find that player that is the right player to come in, the right person as well as the right player.
" There is no easy fix to getting players, you can go and get the one that is going to be expensive. It is easy to find, I can tell you the best left-back in our division now, I can tell you the best centre-forward but you can't always get them because the costs involved are exorbitant. If we can get a few of these players like Tony that come in for the right reasons, when I go to the board and ask for that big player then I would hope that the response is a positive one. "