Robbie Simpson confessed that the Latics, travelling army of over 2,800 were the driving factor for the players that enabled them to come from behind in the thrilling 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest.
Simpson explained, “That's the magic of the FA Cup which I love. It is massive for a club like ourselves which needs the money. When we came out for the second half we were attacking our own fans and said let's give them something to cheer. The fans came out in their numbers, just as they did at Liverpool last season, and they definitely inspired the team to press quicker and to get into Forest's faces.”
“We changed our own formation with about 15 minutes to go in the first half and started to create chances towards the end. In the second half we pressed them higher up the pitch and went man for man and they didn't know how to live with us. We were fantastic in the second half.”
“It was a big moment for me personally as I have been struggling this season through injury and have been playing when I have not been fully fit. It has been frustrating and depressing so to score was really good for me and the second goal was the icing on the cake. It was quite surreal as everything just seemed to be coming to my feet and everything I did seemed to come off for that five-minute spell. It was lucky because there were times in the first half when nothing went for me. You have to keep going and working hard, keep being brave and wanting the ball, even when things are not going for you as you will eventually get spells when everything goes your way. That was the first time I had played 70 minutes for a long time and was very tired. I was thankful for the management to bring me off as I was starting to feel tight in my groins so hopefully I have come off at the right time. I may have a couple of days off to let it settle down and then go again for next Saturday's game against Brentford.”