Dick Campbell has hailed Arbroath’s ‘important’ 3-0 win over Morton as his side prepare for the play-offs.
The Lichties returned to winning ways in style after a heart-breaking defeat at Kilmarnock last week.
Jason Thomson opened the scoring in the first half before James Craigen and Michael McKenna grabbed two goals late in the game.
Fans hailed
Campbell believed his side were well worth their win in front of 3,121 fans – the biggest Gayfield attendance in the Championship this season.
“Nobody can doubt that we deserved to win the game,” he said. “My goalie barely had a save to make.
Tonight’s attendance made us very proud as a Club. 3121 on a Friday night was just outstanding! Thank you and to all those who stayed behind for selfies and autographs! Big shout out to the @Morton_FC support too, we hope you all get home safe. pic.twitter.com/1Z81VsjSPQ
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) April 29, 2022
“The game was immaterial but it was important for me to win in front of a big crowd, the fans were fabulous.
“Some of the football we played was fabulous, the atmosphere was tremendous and the Arbroath fans played their part.
“We missed a lot of chances but Dougie has done a great job at Morton and has kept them up. I think he has a good future in the game.”
Players prove their point?
Campbell made nine changes to his side with regular players given a rest.
The Lichties gaffer was impressed by those who stepped in in their place.
“There wasn’t anything at stake but the players wanted to prove to me that they want to be here next season,” Campbell said.
“I played everyone that needed to play tonight and they all got a run-out which was important.
“It was important to get a win before the play-offs, we’ll find out who we play next week.”
Coming up for 10pm and there is still a huge amount of youngsters waiting patiently to see the players who are posing for selfies and signing everything! pic.twitter.com/ZAzZ5dLolj
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) April 29, 2022
At full-time, the Arbroath squad took to the field once more to applaud the near-3,100 fans who packed into Gayfield.
Campbell expects an even bigger backing in a couple of weeks’ time.
“It’s important as well as we’ll get a big crowd for whoever we play in the play-offs, we should have 4,000 here.
“It’s unbelievable, when I arrived at the club, we had attendances of 450 and now we have crowds of 3,000 so I have no complaints.”
