Striker Ryan Bird says that the win over Crawley Town was vital after his goal helped the Glovers to three points that pushed his side out of the relegation zone.

Bird came off the bench after 56 minutes, and with his first touch on the hour mark put his side into the lead with his first goal since October.

And after a week with two defeats against Morecambe in League Two actions and Carlisle in an FA Cup 3rd Round Replay in a dreaded penalty shoot-out, the forward explained that getting the points against the Red Devils was very important.

Bird said, “It’s much needed after the week we’ve had. We’ve played two games and I think we deserved to win both of them, so it was important we bounced back and got the vital three points today.

“It was a bit nervy towards the end, obviously they were lumping it forward, but we got those much-needed three points.”

Heads may have understandably dropped after the two defeats, but Bird praised both captain Darren Ward and manager Darren Way for making sure that focusing on the league was crucial in the fight to stay up.

The striker explained “The gaffer and Wardy are always trying to pick us back up because footballs a cruel game at the end of the day.

“The way we went out on Tuesday, everyone saw it, it was cruel and I think it’s important we forget that now and move on to concentrate on the league.”

Bird started the game on the bench and was itching to get on, but it was his form in training that made him believe he could make an impact when he came on.

“I was throwing myself at a few tap-ins!” said the forward, “They were smashing the ball across in the first half and there was a couple of tap-ins, but I was liking the way we were playing first half.

“Yesterday I was putting a few shots away in training; I don’t know what happened or whether I’ve had my shoes on the wrong feet, but they were all going in!”

Bird added, “He (Way) said to me your finishing yesterday was excellent, be ready today, and obviously I was; I think it was my first touch as well!

Fellow substitute Tahvon Campbell was introduced at the same time as Bird, and the double change paid dividends as the young West Brom loanee scored his stunning matchwinner with his first ever-senior goal.

And Campbell’s more experienced strike partner said that the young forward would remember his 25-yard strike for the rest of his life.

He said, “Yesterday in training we were practicing that exact move, shooting from that angle into the far corner, so all the training is paying off at the moment; he scored quite a few of them to be fair!

“It was a spectacular goal and he’ll remember that for the rest of his career.”