“The result was more important than the performance today – it was the result we wanted and we had to scrap for it but we’ll take the three points however they come.

“It wasn’t a pretty game but we got the job done. We knew the surface was going to be poor so we said we needed to play in the final third of the pitch which we did and eventually took the lead from the spot.

“We looked comfortable in the opening half whilst in the second half we expected they would have a go.

“However, they had to launch the ball long as did we on occasions because we couldn’t play it through midfield due to the conditions.

“I don’t think people realised how poor the playing surface was although on their own pitch Carlton have been unpredictable whilst causing a few upsets with some good results.

“The three points were important for us today to get a run going in order to keep in touch with the play-off places.

“We now have a couple of games in hand as we approach the final third of the season where we will be at home for 10 of our remaining 14 games and that is unprecedented as we prepare for the twists and turns of the run-in,” he added.