Boro stopper says belief in the camp has always been strong

STEVENAGE goalkeeper Chris Day says he and his teammates were always confident they could achieve back-to-back promotions despite sitting as low as 18th place in January.

Boro found the transition into the Football League somewhat difficult in the opening months of the campaign with a lack of goals being the main sticking point for Graham Westley’s side.

However, the former Watford man says the team never lost sight of achieving what everyone outside the club deemed nigh-on impossible, and they rightly earned their place in the play-offs after a fantastic run of form in the last two months of the campaign.

“It was our target at the beginning of the season,” said Day.

“I know personally that if you do win a championship the momentum is with you. I’ve been involved at Watford where we achieved back-to-back promotions so I knew it was possible but we kept quiet about it and kept it in house and did the hard work.

“Yes it will be surreal when the fixtures come out but it’s no more than a lot of the guys who have supported the club through thick and thin deserve.

“We’ll work hard in pre-season and the sky genuinely is the limit. But we’ll sit down and discuss things when we come back after we’ve gathered our thoughts.

“League 1 is going to be a tough place but it’s all about learning and the quicker we do that the better chance we’ve got.”

Boro finished the campaign with the best defensive record in League 2 after winning all three of the play-off matches without conceding a goal. And it was this solidarity at the back that saw Day concede just 45 times in 46 games, and enabled Boro to often stifle the life out of many of their opponents throughout the season. And as a consequence, they never lost a league match all year in which they found the net.

“It is an amazing achievement,” added Day, “but it’s credit to the guys in front of me and it’s credit to the work everyone does in training because it’s all about detail.

“I don’t think we ever try to sit back when we score because we’ve seen England do it in tournaments and it’s not easy to do. We try to stay on the front foot but that’s as many secrets as I’m going to give away!”

Day also spared a mention for match-winner John Mousinho after the match, saying he wasn’t surprised things worked out just the way they did.

He added: “I fancied Mous (Mousinho) before the game funnily enough. He’s just come back in, served his suspension and probably learnt on the sidelines and I knew he felt he could come in and deliver. It was a great burst from midfield and he battered it into the bottom corner so he will enjoy that one.”