Martin Wild speaks with Dean Holden

One of Town's new summer signings played his part in a comfortable 3-1 opening day win for his new club. Dean Holden - signed from SPL side Falkirk as replacement for the departing figures of Darren Moss and Ben Herd - soon became fans favourite when he made an important contribution for the opening goal after just ten minutes.

"It's a good three points for us. It's a long time coming the opening game after pre-season. That's always a tough time for footballers with all the fitness work. But all the teamwork and togetherness we've worked on shone through - particularly in the second half when Burton came at us a little bit. They had a goal disallowed which might have counted on another day, but we got a third one and we were home and dry.

That third goal was important because they were winning a lot of the second balls in the middle of the park, and were turning us around a bit. We managed to ride the storm and even if we did get lucky with the offside decision, we'll take that and it's a great start to the season for us."

Holden's incisive through ball for Jake Robinson was clinically finished by the diminutive striker, and Holden was quick to point out the intelligent movement of the new number eleven.

"It's a great run from him (Robinson). It's come out to me and Hibbo's made a great lay-off, and I just saw him make his run. Luckily he's got on the end of it and I don't know whether their keeper should have done better with it, but Robbo will take that. He's a lively player and we're happy to have him."

The formation was tweaked slightly with the news filtering through quite late that Kris Bright hadn't received international clearance from the Greek FA, to allow him to take his place in the starting line-up. Last week's injury to Lewis Neal had also disrupted Simmo's plans, and led to a radical rethink of the tried and trusted 4-4-2 system usually employed by the Town gaffer.

"I think it was a personnel issue that caused us to go more of a 4-4-3 particularly with Louey getting injured last week. The boss brought Josh in and he's performed well today. I thought right through the side there were some really good performances today. It's always nice to get off to a good start and we can look forward to a big cup game now on Tuesday night."

The former Bolton man was happy to have put his own slight injury concerns behind him, coming through relatively unscathed after a brief spell on the sidelines.

"It was a big thing for me to get through the full ninety," he said, "especially as I got a bit of a knock there in the first half. It was on the same knee as well so that was a bit of a worry, but thankfully I was able to run it off, and was generally quite pleased with my fitness.

"It was a good game to play in. There was a decent atmosphere particularly in the second half when the fans were having a bit of banter with each other. All the pressure was on us really with Burton playing their first ever game in the league. It was a big game for them but equally it was as big a game for us. The gaffer's just said it could be one of the most important three points of the season for us. I don't know about that 'cos all three points are the same, but I know what he means 'cos it's always important to make a good start if you can."

Holden isn't short on experience himself, but recognised there's a wealth of it across the back line - even though he admitted there was still work to do.

"We need to talk to each other a little bit more, and that's a point the gaffer's just made in the changing rooms. We need to perhaps gee each other up a bit during games, just to keep each other on our toes. I'm delighted with not just the defensive set-up but the whole squad, and I'm really pleased to be here. We're a good bunch of lads who work hard in training; and the club's all geared up for getting itself promoted. It's a great place to play especially when there's a good crowd on and that makes for a good atmosphere. Hopefully, they'll have enjoyed themselves today and who knows - it might help to bring a few more down here?"