Stevenage's players will do everything they can to help the families of Ollie Gatfield and Liam Sharpe according to Dan Sweeney - following a moving speech prior to Stevenage's game with Blackpool.

The pair, both huge Stevenage fans, were involved in car accident in Hitchin on January 13, one which claimed the life of Ollie and left Liam fighting for his in hospital.

The sisters of the pair came onto the Lamex pitch to give a short speech laced with emotion and grief, before the watching crowd gave a minute's applause. 

The Comet: Stevenage players applaud in front of a screen showing a picture of Ollie Gatfield and Liam Sharpe. Picture: TGS PHOTOStevenage players applaud in front of a screen showing a picture of Ollie Gatfield and Liam Sharpe. Picture: TGS PHOTO (Image: TGS Photo)

"I just spoke to the two sisters, and FaceTimed Liam actually," said the defender.

"It was very tough and I think it has hit the club very hard. It’s definitely hit the changing room hard. We’ve all been talking about it. 

"We all feel so sorry for both families involved and anything that we can do for them both, we’ll do it. We'll go out of our way to do it and we’ll make sure of that as well.  

"But for both the girls to go out there and to give that speech before the game, I just told them that I thought they were so strong. 

"And I actually felt very proud of them too. To do that in front of all the fans was absolutely brilliant."

He also took the time to mention the Blackpool fans who started to applaud when the emotion threatened to overcome the speech.

Sweeney said: "And I just want to say something to the Blackpool fans as well, when she started getting a little bit emotional, which was always going to happen, they started clapping which I thought was a nice touch." 

As for the match itself, a 1-0 win courtesy of an 85th minute winner from Jake Forster-Caskey, Sweeney felt it was archetypal of the belief within the Boro squad.

He said: "It was a brilliant result against tough opposition and three wins on the bounce. It keeps the ball rolling. 

"We knew coming into the game how tough it was going to be. It was very similar to last week – a big club, lots of fans and a good footballing side. 

"But the gaffer always says that if we play the way we can, and keep doing what we doing, we're a match for anyone. 

"Even when we aren’t playing that well, the lads fully believe that we're going to turn it around and we'll always keep fighting until the end. 

"That's the great thing about us. We've got bundles of potential and good players that we can bring on. 

"The gaffer always says anybody could play. It doesn't matter if you're playing well one week, you could be out the next and someone else could be doing just as good of a job. 

"We're a very tight knit group though and we always fancy ourselves."