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POWERHOUSE: MICHAEL Raynes
Star man Raynes
1/10/2008
MICHAEL Raynes was singled out for praise after his late strike on Saturday at Cheltenham secured a well-deserved point for County.
The Hatters’ versatile powerhouse pounced with a text-book headed goal on the stroke of full-time, after another gutsy star man performance.
It appears that Raynes’ latest excellent performance has now also earned him the captain’s armband for this Friday’s home derby against table-topping Oldham, after Gareth Owen looked to have exchanged angry words with boss Jim Gannon after being substituted immediately following Cheltenham’s 66th minute second goal on Saturday.
Gannon said after the Cheltenham draw, County’s third on the bounce: "One person you can rely on, and he’ll be captain on Friday night, is Michael Raynes. What an awesome performance. I’ve said privately and publicly that we may lose players over the coming year, but the one player I don’t want to lose is Michael. If he keeps performing like that he’s destined for big things. Maybe some people want to see him as a centre-half, but for him to get our point-saving goal at the end is a real credit to the lad. He’s running past our midfielders, he’s running past our defenders, and he’s covering every blade of grass in the middle. He’s been fantastic for us both defensively and offensively. Since I arrived back at Stockport County he’s probably the greatest competitor we’ve had."
Looking back on Saturday’s game as a whole, Gannon felt his side probably ought to have won, but two disappointing goals against cost the Hatters victory.
Boss Gannon added: "I’ve asked the staff and the players and they felt we should have won. We had more chances than them and we displayed some good quality, but the two goals we gave away were very poor. If you gift teams goals like that then you have to work really hard to stay in games. I told the defenders exactly what to expect from Stuart Fleetwood, and they got a warning early on, but both their goals came from Cheltenham not having to do too much. I want to give great credit to the lads for going through the whole of September unbeaten though. We’ve just picked up three points from the last three games I know, but it’s important that we keep picking up points while also taking points off other teams. We’ve done that in September, and with the way we’re playing football at the moment, I’m really looking forward to Friday night’s game against Oldham now."
Cheltenham’s new boss Martin Allen said: "The players showed great commitment and energy. Stockport have not lost away from home for 13 games. They are a very difficult team to play against and have been together for three years. Our lot have been thrown together."
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