It was well past eleven o'clock when Paul Bolland eventually made it home last night. The midfielder came on as a late substitute at Edgar Street and spoke of an emotional day.

"It's been an extremely tough week and yesterday was an extremely emotional one," explained Paul. "We've all lost a gaffer and a friend. The sight of grown men in tears isn't something you'll ever get used to but there was no shame in that. His loss has affected us all."

"Yesterday was all about doing it for Keith. As soon as we heard that his family wanted the game played, a decision we fully supported, we wanted to go out there and honour the Big Man in the best possible way."

"There was understandably a lot of adrenalin and I felt it was a fitting performance, one the gaffer would have been pleased with. He'd spoken about the importance of winning games against sides around us in the table and hopefully when he heard the result it would have brought a smile to his face."

"It was a long journey home and a fairly quiet one as you can imagine. I know it hit me again when I got home, the full realisation that he had gone and I suspect I am not alone in that. It's been tough for Simmo who has been by his side for so long and the likes of Morgs, Butch and Nat Brown go back a long way."

"It's going to take a while to get over his loss but it's important we raise ourselves for the game on Tuesday and then again next Saturday. That's what the gaffer would have expected."

"With Grimsby also winning its important we continue to pick up points and hopefully we can use the awful news this week to galvanise our efforts. The fans were superb and with this kind of collective strength hopefully we can do the Big Man proud."