Gloucester City manager Mike Cook hailed Fabien Robert’s equaliser as “goal of the season” as his side came from behind to beat Slough Town.
Cook’s Gloucester side came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Arbour Park thanks to a Josh Thomas winner in the 76th minute and an audacious lob by Robert six minutes into the second half.
Robert is on loan from League Two side Forest Green Rovers and has spent time in the top division in France with Lorient.
The Gloucester boss described the 30-year-old Frenchman as the team’s “French resistance”, with his goal helping City to keep their unbeaten run under Cook alive.
“Fabien, he’s been absolutely fantastic for us,” Cook explained.
“He’s definitely been our French resistance at the moment.
“The way he’s worked hard and the goals he’s scored. I need to say to everybody to go online and have a look at his goal from last night. It was an absolute worldie. Definitely goal of the season – for us, anyway.”
Gloucester’s victory on Tuesday saw them leapfrog Hungerford Town out of the relegation zone in the National League South.
Cook revealed he was delighted to see a plan come together at Slough, despite not much game time for his side recently due to two postponements.
“It’s really pleasing when you see a plan come together," he said.
"There’s been a lot of hard work over the past two weeks.
“It was good to work with the lads for a couple of weeks and to get things right.”
But Cook also took the positives from the weather disrupting his team’s fixture list as it has given him more time to train with the squad.
“It’s been a bit of both (advantage and disruption) really,” Cook admitted.
“It’s been nice to get with the lads on the grass so we can actually go through a few patterns of play.
“But after the Bath game (0-0 draw), people were just starting to understand their roles. So, to have two weeks off after that was a bit of a kick in the teeth.
“It’s been a bit challenging getting the players motivated for the game because it’s been close to a couple of weeks.”
Since Cook was appointed as Gloucester manager, the team’s form has spiked massively, with two wins and two draws, and Slough’s opener on Tuesday being the only goal they have conceded under the 50-year-old.
But the City manager is not getting carried away and revealed that their target is still to stay in the division and nothing more.
“I’ve not been looking at the league table, to be honest,” Cook explained.
“The target is to definitely just stay up. I think everybody needs to get real. We’re in a relegation battle.
“If we do finish above the relegation zone, that will be an unbelievable achievement because every team we’ve played so far, I’ve not been disappointed with the standard of players and teams we’re up against.
“The other teams are spending a lot of money and our budget is minuscule compared to them. So for us to even be competing is a huge credit to the players, the board, the staff and the board of directors.”
