BOSS Tom Killick praised Poole Town for powering through the pressure of recent knockbacks to come back from behind at Slough.

Following a keenly-contested first half, the Dolphins fell behind two minutes after the restart with Ed Smith thumping home while offside appeals fell on deaf ears.

But Poole hit straight back through Steve Devlin’s crisp, dipping volley to restore parity within a minute before substitute Richard Gillespie notched with his second touch.

Slough’s Stuart Lake was sent off for denying Gillespie an obvious goalscoring opportunity with two minutes to play before Marvin Brooks sealed the 3-1 victory with a fierce angled drive, much to his manager’s relief.

Killick told the Daily Echo: “I felt we were under a bit of pressure on the back of two indifferent results against Chippenham and Merthyr so it was a significant win in many respects.

“We brushed them aside quite easily with one of our best away performances last season. Sometimes, people expect more of the same but they were definitely a much tougher nut to crack this time.

“They went ahead at the start of the second half but Devs popped up with an exceptional goal a minute later which, for me, was the key to it all.

“Had it stayed 1-0 for a while with our confidence being a bit fragile, I think it might have been difficult for us.”

And with struggling Frome heading to Tatnam for tomorrow’s Bank Holiday fixture (3pm), Killick reckons his squad should be in bullish mood.

“There had been criticism, which you could understand, and that brought its own pressure at Slough but I thought the players handled it well,” he added.

“Had we dropped points, it really would have heaped everything on the Frome game. Now, we can go into that having made a step towards the level of performance we are after.”

Winger Luke Burbidge is unavailable but due to return in time for next weekend’s trip to King’s Lynn. Keith Emmerson (ill) is a doubt, while Lewis Lindsay is still nursing a foot injury.

Dolphins: Hutchings, Tallack, Emmerson, Walker, Whisken, Pettefer, Roberts (Gleeson, 80), Devlin, Connell (Gillespie, 63), Brooks, Davidson (Spetch, 55). Unused subs: Holmes, Dickson.