Toolstation NCEL Division One
Gabe Mozzini was thrilled with the passion Wakefield AFC showed in the dominant 2-0 victory at Selby Town on Tuesday night.
Wakefield moved to the cusp of the play-offs after a win which was made stunning by the fact they played with ten men for 50 minutes following Jayden Sandhu’s first half red card.
“It was very pleasing,” Mozzini told Non League Yorkshire.
“We had a good start (to the season) and then we struggled for several weeks.
“Injuries were part of that but it was also our intensity and the heart and grit from the players.
“We have been working on the past few weeks and we saw (it come to fruition against Selby).
“Selby are near the bottom but they have had good results against good teams so they can beat good teams.
“They could have done (beaten us on Tuesday) but it took heart and I’m very pleased.
“It was early in the game (when Jayden was sent off) so (Selby) could have come back.
“I couldn’t be more prouder of the players.
“How they reacted to going down to ten men was just amazing.
“For good periods we were (dominant with ten men)
“(Selby) were trying hard but it didn’t feel like they were going to score and we kept possession well.”
Wakefield go into the mouth-watering home derby clash with high-flying local rivals Horbury Town on the back of two straight wins.
The successes have lifted any gloom following a torrid run.
“It has been the toughest period since I took over,” Mozzini said.
“Out of eight league games we lost six so it was tough.
“Now we have had these two wins and we have this very nice derby against Horbury at home.
“They are second in the table so it is going to be very difficult but now if we can win we will be close to the play-offs and that’s our main goal in the next few weeks.”
In his last interview with NLY, Mozzini said he planned to sign to a striker.
That never materialised and key forward Jake Morrison has now returned to action.
“We struggled to recruit,” he said.
“During mid-season it is hard to find players.
“We talked to players and you have to remember at the time our results weren’t great so that makes it more difficult.
“As it happens our players came back so it never happened.
“We maybe need an extra centre-half.
“We’re playing our three centre-backs with no-one on the bench so we could do with one more.”