Striker felt no pressure to score

BORO striker Craig Reid says he hopes the floodgates will now open after he scored his first goal for his new club in Tuesday night’s game at Oxford United.

Reid became Stevenage’s record buy when he signed for a six-figure sum at the end of January and while his all-round forward play has been impressive during his first few weeks at his new club he has been unable to find the back of the net.

That changed at Oxford when he struck Boro’s second goal in their 2-1 win at the Kassam, and while the striker says he has felt no pressure to hit the target since signing for Boro he now hopes more goals will follow Tuesday night’s strike.

“It’s a nice feeling to have scored my first goal for the club and I hope that more will follow now that I’ve hit the target,” Reid told The Comet.

“I’ve not felt under any pressure to perform since I signed. The gaffer has said it is about the all-round performance as well as getting the goals and said that the goals will come.

“I’ve been pleased with how I’ve been playing but it’s nice to have finally got that first goal and I hope it’s the first of many.

“We’ve done well recently and got some good wins against some of the teams around us and we’re looking now at pushing on towards promotion and we’re happy with how things have been going.”

To open his account for his new club Reid had latched on to a Rob Sinclair pass before slotting neatly home from the edge of the box just two minutes after the restart at Oxford.

Boro had earlier been dealt a blow before the break when Oxford’s Tom Craddock cancelled out an own goal by Harry Worley by scoring from the penalty spot three minutes into injury time after Peter Winn had brought down Josh Payne in the box.

The win moves Boro above Oxford in the League 2 table and to within four points of the play-off places with 10 games to go until the end of the season.

Graham Westley’s men host Lincoln City this Saturday hoping to put more pressure on the teams that current reside in the top seven.

Lincoln still hope to crash the play-off party themselves, and are just nine points off after a 1-1 draw with Macclesfield on Tuesday evening.

“All the lads are really looking forward to the Lincoln game this weekend after our recent run,” Reid said.

“We’re back to winning games now and we’ll be looking for three more points on Saturday and look to push up the league even more.”

Scott Laird will return for the Lincoln game after missing Tuesday night’s match through suspension, allowing Lawrie Wilson, who deputised for him at left-back on Tuesday, to resume his role on the right of midfield.

Jon Ashton could also return following injury to partner Mark Roberts in the centre of defence.