PAUL Carden said he knew his Warrington Town side would beat Stafford Rangers once they went ahead on Tuesday night.

Brad Barnes’ effort in the early stages of the second half was enough for Yellows to record back-to-back wins and remain top of the Evo-Stik Premier Division.

Report: Yellows 1 Stafford Rangers 0

Speaking after the game, Carden said his faith in his defence meant he knew Barnes’ goal would be enough to seal the three points.

However, he feels his side could, and perhaps should have won by a clearer margin.

“I knew we’d win the game if we got a goal because I know how good we are defensively and how solid we are,” he said.

“We’ve ground a win out but we’ve deserved it. I thought we started really well but the conditions took hold.

“You could tell their game plan was just to load the box. They had a towel to dry the ball for long throw ins!

“We had to handle it as the opposition and I thought we handled everything they threw at us. I think Tony had one save to make, we defended brilliantly again.

“I thought the back four were really good tonight again, Jack Higgins was feeling the effects of Saturday so Liam Goulding has had to slot in at centre-half but he did great.

“Rory (McKeown) had a knock on his knee from Saturday but he just gets on with it.

“I thought Adam Carden was excellent as well and again, Jay (McCarten) and Tony (McMillan) were clever and marshalled the defence with experience you can’t buy.”

Barnes’ winner was his first goal for Yellows since arriving in pre-season, but Carden revealed the midfielder came in for a bit of friendly banter after the game.

“I gave Brad a bit of stick after the game because I thought he ducked out of the header just before he scored. He likes his face a bit too much!” he said.

“He could have headed Rory’s cross in and that would have been a brilliant goal!”