Martin Wild speaks with Kelvin Langmead

Town's longest serving player was a mighty relieved man when I caught up with him on the pitch, after last night's 2-0 success over third-placed Rotherham. Langmead and Co. had held out to post a clean sheet for the first time in a dozen attempts, and you could sense how much it meant to the 24 year-old.

"I was saying earlier today that we were just one win away from starting off on a run - just to get that confidence under our belts really," he told me. "I think one win in nine games or whatever it was, is going to affect your confidence, so we needed a big performance tonight, and the most important thing was just to grind out the result which is what we've done."

It looked like it could have been another one of those nights where things just weren't going to go right for the team, when Dave Hibbert saw his spot-kick pushed out by Andy Warrington after half-an-hour. But as I put it to Kelvin, Hibbo certainly didn't hide which many may have done in his position.

"That's right. Hibbo is the kind of player who can beat himself up at times - that's just his character. But he responded superbly. All the lads got round him and we have got a great team spirit here. It's just one of those things but I thought the way he responded was fantastic."

Last night was the first time in six consecutive games at the Prostar, where the team hadn't shipped the opening goal, and the centre-back recognised the importance of scoring the first goal.

"You're right but equally as important is keeping the clean sheet, which is the first one in a long time too. As a defender you sometimes look at yourself and wonder why it keeps happening and how you can put it right. But like you say, getting that first goal gives you that confidence, and you start to play with a bit more freedom and a lot less nerves. And thankfully, that deflected effort at the end made things a little easier for us in the last few minutes.

"We needed a positive result tonight as we were feeling a bit down on our luck. I think when you bounce back from a defeat, that shows a lot of character and I think tonight showed that. It was a great result but the performance went with it as well because Rotherham are a good side. They'll be in the mix at the end of the season so it's a massive three points for us."

Adam LeFondre has been a fantastic capture for the Millers, so how satisfying was it to keep the livewire ex-Rochdale man quiet last night?

"I think when you play against the likes of Adam LeFondre, you know you're only a single mistake away from getting punished and conceding a goal," said Langmead. "He's always lively so you can't afford to give him any chances. That's why we nullified him tonight because players of his calibre can hurt you. We were aware of the threat they carried up front but we were so desperate to get that clean sheet. It was long overdue so we were really pleased to get it."

The manager criticised the Prostar pitch in his post-match assessment, and I asked Kelvin how pleasing it must be to watch the likes of Terry Dunfield and Paul Murray, doing all the fetching and carrying further up the pitch - especially with it being heavy and sapping the player's energy levels.

"They were fantastic tonight. Like you said the pitch is really heavy and sometimes it's hard to get across it, but I felt the whole team worked really, really hard. I felt it was important we showed commitment and passion tonight, and their performances epitomised that work ethic we've got."

We ended on a comedy moment after Langmead received a yellow card for dissent. I enquired as to whether he was trying to land a world record for bouncing a football as high as anyone had managed before.

"To be honest, I'm really angry with myself there," he laughed. "It was a petulant thing to do but I didn't think I'd thrown it (the ball) down that hard, and was surprised to see it bounce so high. I thought I'd gently put it down so was surprised to get booked for it. But no, I'm a bit annoyed with myself 'cos it was childish."

As he would be facing a club fine I advised him to tell the gaffer it had hit a divot on the pitch!

"Yeah, I should try that! But it was entirely my fault and you just have to take the blame for it."