Huddersfield Town secured a 1-0 victory over Watford on Saturday thanks to a Tom Ince injury-time goal.
The winger believes that this goal could be the biggest goal of his career so far, as it meant the Terriers gained a vital three points within the Premier League relegation battle.
The West Yorkshire side now sit in 15th place on 35 points - seven points above the drop zone.
You must gamble in the box
When discussing his goal, Ince was asked whether he thinks it was the biggest goal of his career so far, with him responding: “Yeah without a doubt, or I hope it will be.”
“You just have to gamble. I think it was similar to the one I got against Stoke here at home,” he explained.
"If you don’t gamble when the ball is in the box and dome remain positive and don’t believe the ball will fall to you then it won’t.
"It fell to me and I tucked it away."
Town have confidence from the win
The game was fairly even throughout, with both teams creating few chances, but consistently working hard to try and press forward.
On the game, the 26-year-old said: “It was a huff and puff type of game, neither team really stamped their authority on the game.”
Despite not mathematically being safe yet, the Hornets will be fairly confident that they will be playing top-flight football next season, which was certainly reflected in their game plan, as they seemed to be content with taking home a point.
“It was always going to be that type of match from Watford's point of view, we are in the last echelons of the season and it was like end of season blues for them.”
“I thought we huffed and puffed throughout the whole game and it was always going to be one goal to win it and fortunately it came our way and at the perfect time,” he continued.
The goalscorer praised his fellow teammates and emphasised on the importance of Town’s results being a team effort, as he said: “It been a team effort all season, and we deserve days like today, we work so hard for each other.”
“We knew today was going to be a tough task, and this win gives us a lot of confidence now.”
“Massive three points”
Huddersfield now have two weeks until their next game against Everton, which will be another game the Terriers will be hoping to get points from to further add to their survival hopes.
“We have moved seven points clear of the bottom three, and we knew today, and the Everton game in a few weeks, were going to be massive,” admitted to former Derby County player.
“Today we worked hard, probably didn’t create as much as we wanted to but got all three points and gave ourselves a bit of a gap going into Everton. Whereas if we’d have drawn or lost today then all of a sudden there becomes massive pressure on that Everton fixture.”
“So, this win gives us a little breather, but when it comes to playing Everton we’ll need to go again,” said the second-half substitute.
Before continuing: “It’s a massive three points. I am chuffed for the lads, for the club and the town. To work so hard at this level and to show what we have done and produce a nice gap is great, but the job is still not done.”
Even if the Terriers don’t always get the results, Ince ensures that providing everyone works hard for the team and shows their ‘Terrier Spirit’, then that is the most important thing.
He said: “Working hard is the biggest point. The manger constantly goes on about fighting for the cause, fighting for your teammates, for the club. we do that every single one of us.”
“Its all about what we do”
These three points were even more significant after fellow relegation rivals Southampton lost to Chelsea and Stoke and Swansea drew with West Ham and Everton respectively.
On the battle for survival, Ince commented: “We know its not over yet, we still have four games to go and we are going to give 110% in every game.”
“All you can do in this league is keep teams below you, all you can keep doing is trying to give yourself a breather and a gap,” he admitted.
Huddersfield certainly have a difficult run in of fixtures with their last three games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal, but fortunately for them, many of their fellow relegation rivals also have to face multiple ‘top six’ teams.
“Listen everyone is talking about our run, Southampton’s run in and Stoke’s run in, but all we can do is keep going about our business and work hard as much as we can in each game,” he added.
The team, and many of the fans would certainly have been happy to be at this stage at the start of the season: “We have always wanted the ball to be in our court. I think you would rather be in our position than Stoke or Southampton’s – where they now need to look and start chasing points.”
With the Saints game being the earlier kickoff, it certainly had some worried before when Mark Hughes’ men took the lead.
“For us it’s all about what we do. People were looking at Southampton and they were 2-0 up, Chelsea then win 3-2. We couldn’t control that, so all we can do is focus on what we do and work hard for each other.”
“You always look at results, but we knew today that it was about us and what we needed to do. We knew that we had two home games, today and Everton, and if we can get something from them, then we are moving in the right direction,” he continued.
“If we can pick up as many points as we can and come the end we are one point above the bottom three – then job done.”
Before admitting: “We might not be blessed with millions of pounds worth of quality, but what we do; is we try hard for each other and do the best we can.”
Wagner will be focused on Everton
Ince was then asked whether he thinks head coach David Wagner can start planning for next season, but he insisted that there is still work to be done in this campaign, and that’s all the German manager will be focused on.
“If you asked the manager he would probably say no. he’s fully focussed on Everton and us getting three more points. He knows that is another home game and another chance to put a performance in,” he said.
Wagner and the team will certainly have a little more confidence on the survival after the Watford win: “I’m sure the manager will be slightly smiling inside, but he’s professional and wants to keep working hard.”
“He knows this is a real confidence boost in our backs going into the Everton game.”
“Fantastic” celebrations
Wagner had asked the fans prior to the Watford game to continue their impressive atmosphere at the John Smith’s Stadium and they certainly did that, and Ince praised them, by saying:
“I think throughout the game the fans were brilliant and they tried to push the boys forward and get us over the line.”
"At the end you can see the place go up in ruptures, the manager has done a 100 metre sprint down the line, with all the staff and the players. It was a fantastic sight and fantastic thing to see, and I think all the boys thoroughly deserve that today and enjoy it now."