Kayden Jackson was delighted with his teammates' performance in Accrington Stanley's impressive four-nil win away at Wycombe Wanderers.
The striker was one of four players to get on the scoresheet, scoring the opener after quarter of an hour when he beat the Chairboys' goalkeeper Scott Brown to the ball before tapping home into an empty net.
Prior to that the Reds had ‘keeper Aaron Chapman to thank for preventing Wycombe from taking the lead in the opening exchanges. He first tipped Paris Cowan-Hall's diving header onto the post, and then made a string of great saves to keep the game goalless.
Jackson feels the result put to rest any doubts some people might have had regarding Stanley's title charge following their automatic promotion celebrations midweek.
“A four-nil win against any team, in any league, takes a lot of hard work,” said Jackson. “The lads have put a shift in and I don't think the result flattered us.
“Wycombe had some chances to score, but our goalkeeper and our defenders have done excellently to keep a clean sheet, and we've got the job done at the other end.
“If people were doubting us, then a game like this, a performance like this and a result like this shows everyone exactly why we are up there.
“We celebrated after Tuesday, and rightly so. It was a massive achievement for the club. But we always knew that we had a job to do.”
Stanley midfielder Scott Brown unleashed a tremendous left-footed volley into the top left corner to bag his first league goal of the season in the 33rd minute, before Sean McConville made it three-nil in the 66th.Then, after being brought down in the box during added time at the end of the second half, Derby County-loanee Offrande Zanzala wrapped up the goals for Stanley in the 95th minute, coolly dispatching from the spot to record his first ever league goal.“Scotty deserves his goal,” said Jackson. “We were saying to him before the game that he was going to score, and I was delighted for him. There isn't a nicer guy in football. He's so unselfish and he works hard for the team.
“I'm delighted for Ozzy [Zanzala] too. He came on, got his first league goal and I'm sure he'll kick on now and get many more in his career.
“He comes in everyday just like the rest of us and works as hard if not harder than all of us. It's almost unfortunate that he's come in at a time when we're flying. He's come here on loan and is part of a club that are on the brink of winning the league though, so it's not all bad!
“A few of the lads are in the same boat. Unfortunately for them the team's been solid and we've been winning games, but it's always nice to see one of the lads come off the bench and chip in.”
Jackson, who now has 16 goals for the season, says he's happy with his goal, but is even happier with the result.
“I was thinking before the game that I hadn't had a tap-in in a while,” said the 24-year-old. “Any goal is a good goal and I'll take them however they come.
“Most importantly we've got the three points. We're so close now, and hopefully we'll get the job done on Tuesday.”