JOE Royle praised the dogged efforts of matchwinner Nicky Forster after his persistence was rewarded late on at Hillsborough.The veteran striker popped up with the winner just when the contest looked to be heading for a stalemate, and Royle felt it was rich reward for an afternoon of hard graft.

By Elvin King

JOE Royle praised the dogged efforts of matchwinner Nicky Forster after his persistence was rewarded late on at Hillsborough.

The veteran striker popped up with the winner just when the contest looked to be heading for a stalemate, and Royle felt it was rich reward for an afternoon of hard graft.

The Blues boss said: “Nicky had been running round like a terrier.

“He spent all afternoon trying to get a touch, so I was so pleased to see him rewarded with a goal.”

Royle confirmed that despite Forster's efforts he wants to bolster his strike-force when the transfer window re-opens in January.

He is already without long-term injury victims Sam Parkin and Billy Clarke.

Royle said: “I will be looking to bring in one or possibly two new strikers, but they are likely to be either loanees or Bosman free transfers.”

The manager also had praise for Town's central defensive partnership of Richard Naylor and Jason de Vos.

“There was a lot of aerial stuff to defend and I thought we did that magnificently,” said Royle. “Jason De Vos and Richard Naylor played very well, and it was extra pleasing to keep a clean sheet.

“When we defend properly as we did, it gives us a great chance. It is always nice to win a game at the death.

“As everyone knows, we're short of senior strikers at the moment but I still thought we shaded it.

“We always tried to pass the ball on what was a crumbling wicket of a pitch.

“And, apart from Lewis Price having to make a couple of saves in the first half and one or two skirmishes after the break, we were always comfortable.

“These tight games have gone against us in the past, so it's nice to get the all-important goal.”

Wednesday manager Paul Sturrock did not try to put a gloss on the task faced by his side after seeing their run without a win extend to seven games with the result leaving them languishing in the bottom three.

He said: “We hoped it wasn't going to be this kind of tussle, but it's going to be biting and scratching until the end of the season. We're in a dog-fight.

“I tried to warn everybody at the start of the season and I think everyone knows now that it's going to be muck and mire right to the end. If we let this fester and we're not all together, it will get worse instead of better.”