Downes hails ‘galvanised’ Bulls spirit after five-star display

Aaron Downes

Aaron Downes says he is “really impressed” by the spirit inside the Hereford dressing room after watching his side in a seven-goal thriller against Chester.

The Bulls have endured a challenging campaign to say the least, but three points from a 5-2 win over Chester at Sixways now sees them five points from safety.

But the manager, who is now into his ninth day with the club, believes recent setbacks have strengthened the group rather than fractured it.

It was a very good performance, it's not the perfect performance. Perfect would have been 5-0, but I can't really be too disappointed. I'm very happy.

"I keep praising the players but really they've done superb. What's really impressed me is the spirit amongst them and the spirit in them individually. They've had to galvanise, they've had some disappointments.

"I'm really impressed with some of the performances tonight that haven't been involved in the first two games. I'm also impressed with the people who didn't play tonight and their attitude and that says to me that we've got some good blokes in there and that's important to me."

Downes also highlighted the impact of new additions Harrison Sohna and Joseph James, who he believes have brought “youthful energy” and enthusiasm that has lifted standards across the squad.

“They’ve got levels of enthusiasm and desire and they want to come in and improve. It can be infectious,” he added.

Downes said Sohna, a product of Aston Villa who has signed for Hereford after being released by Cheltenham, has "got quality levels above", evident in his technical ability.

"It's important for me to now put my arm around him and give him a little bit of a short-term home, and give him that belief in himself because there's a player in there.

"We've just got to make him competitive, make him understand what it is to be at this level, but at the same time, not to put too many constraints on him, let him go.

"That's similar to a few other players. I can't take all the credit on recruitment because there's some good players here that have been recruited in the short term as well.

"I thought Cormac [Daly] was brilliant tonight, a real threat. I thought Kazzy Martin was really good, a real bright spark.

"George [Munday] was really good up front as well. So there's a lot of really good performances."