MICHAEL Clegg says “the will to defend” ensured his Warrington Rylands side came away from their return to Gorsey Lane with three points on Tuesday night.

Blues extended their unbeaten run to 10 matches in all competitions by beating FC United of Manchester 1-0 thanks to Scott Bakkor’s goal inside the first minute of the second half.

It means they remain second in the Northern Premier League Premier Division table but they have closed the gap on leaders Radcliffe to four points.

Clegg admitted it was far from a vintage performance from his side but credited the togetherness they showed to repel any threat of a comeback from the visitors.

“I didn’t think we were at our best,” he said.

“We’ve done so well away from home over the past few weeks so we wanted to come back home and put on a show, but it didn’t quite work out that way.

“The positive was the three points – we could have played better but the togetherness, heart, desire and the will to defend got us through.

“There weren’t too many “heart in mouth” moments – we were in control despite not having the ball and we could have had a couple more goals.”

Bakkor was celebrating just 27 seconds after entering the fray as a half-time substitute in place of James Baillie as he raced onto Adamah Sidibeh’s flick-on and calmly stroked the ball into the bottom corner.

Warrington Guardian: Scott Bakkor celebrates scoring the winnerScott Bakkor celebrates scoring the winner (Image: Mark Percy)

The frontman has had to be content with the “super sub” role in recent weeks having missed several games due to his wedding, but having scored off the bench against Matlock Town on Saturday as well, Clegg says he is doing all he can to get into the starting side.

“With the sub, we saw what might happen – we knew Scott would run off the inside shoulder of the right-back given any opportunity, but it happened a bit quicker than we thought,” he said.

“It’s perfect when you get it right because I do get a lot of subs wrong!

“He needs to be hungry to get in the starting side, and he is. Scott missed a few games through going away to get married, and that’s held him back from starting because we did so well while he was away.

“Scott’s attitude has been fantastic – he came on today for 45 minutes and ran himself into the floor.

“He’s a Warrington lad – we tried to bring a few in with him, Ben Hough, James Baillie and Matt Regan – and that helps because it builds team spirit and togetherness with the fans.”