Christian Doidge says momentum is key in Forest Green Rovers’ fight for promotion back to the Football League.
Rovers extended their home unbeaten streak to 341 days on Tuesday night with a 2-1 victory over Sutton United at The New Lawn.
“We’ve been great at home, maybe drawn one too many games which is a little bit disappointing, but it’s the back-end of the season now and it’s all about momentum and smashing off games trying to get three points.
“We’ve done alright this year; we’re a little bit disappointed about where we’re at but we’re going to keep moving forward and keep trying to do the best for this football club,” Doidge said.
Charlie McCann opened the scoring midway through the first half with a delicate outside of the boot finish from 18-yards.
Chaz's excellent finish! 🎯#WeAreFGR💚 pic.twitter.com/AQotg84EnZ
— Forest Green Rovers (@FGRFC_Official) March 12, 2025
Doidge grabbed Rovers’ second of the night and his 13th goal of the season with a chested effort from close range in one his most unorthodox finishes by his own standards.
Chesting home from close range! ⚡️#WeAreFGR💚 pic.twitter.com/MULaWnYu73
— Forest Green Rovers (@FGRFC_Official) March 12, 2025
“When you have a winger in that sort of position, any centre forward would run straight to goal to try and help it in and that’s what happened, it hit me direct in the chest.
“I felt disappointed with the header that Charlie played for me, but I couldn’t get enough power behind it,” he said.
It was a dominant first period for Rovers who could’ve been further ahead if not for some fine stops from Sutton goalkeeper, Jack Sims.
“The first half was a lot better than the second half. We had to go a little bit longer in the first half, but I thought we did that really well.
“We managed to get the two goals and went into half-time looking quite pretty but then came out second half, it was all a bit flat, they [Sutton] got a bit of a rocket at half time so they came out ready to play.
“Second half, we didn’t play as well as we know we can, but we got the job done. It wasn’t pretty but it’s three points,” Doidge said.
🙌#WeAreFGR💚 pic.twitter.com/pOvJZXhXCV
— Forest Green Rovers (@FGRFC_Official) March 11, 2025
The victory saw Rovers move level on points (71) with second placed York City but remain 11 points from leaders Barnet with nine games left to play.
With players missing through injury and illness during the past week, Doidge believes a break and having those players back will be huge for their next game against Southend United on Saturday at The New Lawn.
“I feel like we need a few lads back, obviously we’ve had an illness in the squad, and that’s not been very good. We’ve had a few lads play that are carry issues and others completely missing.
“Hopefully we get everyone back fit for Saturday and be ready to go,” he said.
