Peter Taylor revealed that first-team coach Junior Lewis bore the brunt of abuse from his colleagues after urging Matt Phillips not to shoot just moments before the winger's stunning strike levelled the scores in Saturday's 2-1 win.

 Watch the press conference

The 18-year-old unleashed an unstoppable effort past Bristol Rovers keeper Rhys Evans having seen two previous shots from distance miss the target, and Taylor was delighted to see his coach proved wrong as the ball struck the net:

"Junior didn't want Matty to shoot so I'm killing him now!" he joked. "He got a bit of stick on the bench because he wanted him to pass it, but he decided to smash it and I think it was still gathering pace when it went in - it was a tremendous goal.

"Matty's really kept it down and hit it with such power that it would have taken some stopping from anybody. It was the first shot we got on target in the first half and we know that when Matty gets it right, he can be some player," he added.

What a scorcher: Matt Phillips receives the plaudits for his stunning leveller

The gaffer's jovial mood was understandable as the feelgood factor returned to Adams Park courtesy of the Blues' first victory of the new campaign, with Jon-Paul Pittman's breathtaking winner capping a good day all round.

"I said to the players before the game that if they can get a result, there'll be a lot more smiling faces around the place and I'm sure that will be the case at training next week.

"The players have worked exceptionally hard since they came back in July and you want to get a good start. We haven't had one because of certain things we've done, but we deserved it today because the attitude and character of the players was excellent," said Taylor.

The victory was particularly pleasing against a well-established League One side who came into the game on a run of three successive league victories, and Taylor believes his team have proved that they can compete in this division:

"People talk about our hard start and if Bristol Rovers had won today they would have gone third - they've got a very good team. But it was the best 90 minutes we've played and particularly at half-time I thought we'd done well and played some good stuff, and they didn't have too many chances in the first half.

"I said to the players that we mustn't fear anyone. We've shown a good team today that we're not bad, and I want the players to gain confidence from that."

Coming soon: Stuart Green reflects on his man-of-the-match performance and Jon-Paul Pittman discusses the goal that won the game.