HUDDERSFIELD Town manager Mark Robins hailed both his frontline foragers James Vaughan and Lee Novak after a vital victory at Bristol City.
While the West Country club are already doomed to League I and Wolves are in grave danger of a second successive relegation after losing 2-1 at home to Burnley, Town boosted their chances of Championship survival thanks to Vaughan’s hat-trick.
Robins was delighted with the on-loan Norwich man’s clinical finishing – he now has 13 goals for the season – but was just as keen to comment on Novak.
With Jermaine Beckford ruled out by a groin injury, the former Gateshead man, who is out of contract this summer, made a first start in eight games at Ashton Gate, where he had a hand in all three goals as Town hit the 57-points mark and climbed to 18th.
“Both strikers were magnificent and Lee could easily have ended up on the scoresheet as well,” said Robins, himself a former striker.
“James got the match ball, and in all fairness, could have had six goals. He was on fire, and their keeper (Tom Heaton) did well to limit him to three.
“But if you’re going to go into a game without a player like Jermaine Beckford, who has just scored two goals for you (in the 3-0 home win over Millwall seven days before), you want someone to come in and perform the way Lee did.
“He’s a hungry type who will work his socks off for the team. It’s not all about him and you have to have people with that kind of unselfish attitude in your squad.
“He helped James get his hat-trick by fighting up front and laying things into his path.”
Of the overall team display, Robins said: “We delivered.
“I didn’t care if it wasn’t pretty or if it was boring. All I was bothered about was getting three points.
“We did that, but it wasn’t boring, and at times it was pretty, because we passed the ball well.
“We were excellent in the first half, and we saw the game through in the second.
“It was disappointing to concede (to Lewin Nyatanga in the 90th minute), but that was the only downside.”
Town had 1,546 fans in a 13,376 crowd, and Robins added: “They were brilliant, and we’ve seen how much it means to them.
“They have travelled up and down the country all season and it’s good to have been able to reward them.”
Click here to read our match report from Huddersfield Town's win at Bristol City
