Yeovil Town interim manager Richard Dryden hailed his side’s work ethic as they picked up their second victory in three days with a 1-0 home win over Altrincham today.

A first half header from defender Morgan Williams was enough to secure the three points, but the Glovers had to work hard to contain an impressive visiting side who came close to taking a point on a number of occasions in the second half.

It means Dryden has now picked up six points in his first two games since being given the top job until the end of the season following the shock departure of Danny Webb on Monday.

Asked by BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah how he felt after the game, the manager said: “It’s still stressful, if I am honest. We did not start great, a bit like on Wednesday night, but we got in to the game and we looked like we could counter attack and create a lot of chances. I thought we controlled the game in the first half but it would have been nice if we could have got the second goal having had all those chances. It is hard when you have had all those chances, but Christ we worked hard in that second half.

“A second goal would have been nice, it is just the nature of the beast in football when you are winning 2-0 and someone scores against you, it can be a totally different game. We knew what they we were about, their rotation can kill teams, so to score and keep a clean sheet is great.”

After a slow start, Yeovil clicked in to gear with a front three of Andrew Oluwabori, Junior Morias and Tahvon Campbell causing Altrincham all kinds of problems. In particular, Oluwabori was in rampaging form in the first half and Dryden admitted the on loan Exeter City man brings something different to the side.

The boss said: “He has got a different skillset to anything else we have here, so he complements us very well. He played 80 minutes for us on Wednesday and 70-odd minutes today and he got tired, but need to keep players like that on the pitch. That is a lot of work in two games and it is the same as Junior, he hates coming off. I hate putting up his number because he looks at me as if he is going to kill me! I do not know how many kilometres (Luke) McCormick has put in today, but it’s important when you are camped in for the last 20 minutes like we were, it is fantastic.”

In the second half, the Glovers were indebted to goalkeeper Jed Ward on a number of occasions and had to work hard to keep Altrincham from taking a point.

Dryden added: “We have worked a lot of the season on defending balls in to the box which is what this league is all about, if you can do that you have a great chance of winning games. It is not just about the back three, you have wing backs coming in there and the midfielders sitting in to head balls clear. Finn (Cousin-Dawson) is a lad that does not get a lot of plaudits, but he is there and working hard but you need (those kind of players) in your team and squad.”

Oluwabori, Morias and Campbell were all withdrawn after the break after hard-working performances in Wednesday night’s 4-1 win at Aldershot Town and then again today. Dryden said that captain Jake Wannell, who was replaced by Alex Whittle after 67 minutes, after suffering a glute muscle strain in the warm up.

The interim manager said: “Jake struggled a little bit in the warm up with a glute, in half-time we got him on the bike to keep him moving. He did as much as he could and that is what need at the moment. If we need players to be honest. We have a good squad, we filled the bench and have one or two players coming back, but if you walk in to our changing room and the togetherness is good.”

Dryden fielded an unchanged starting XI from the win at Aldershot and admitted it had been tough on his players with another match coming up at Sutton United on Tuesday night.

The boss added: “When the game started I thought I had made a mistake because we looked a bit tired and did not start well, but we grew in to the game. Now on Tuesday we will have to assess tonight and Sunday what we are going to do because we have one training session before then. I will have to speak to the medical team about that, but we know our shape and what we want to do, so we will see.”

Asked if there could be new signings before the trip to Sutton, he said: “We will look, but I do not want to be jumping in for the sake of it. We have people who can play in different positions, people who want to work for each other.“

New Yeovil Town interim manager Richard Dryden has said the club’s players have rallied around him following the shock exit of manager Danny Webb earlier this week.

The coach was put in charge until the end of the season on Monday and oversaw a 4-1 win at Aldershot Town on Wednesday night, and now he is looking to repeat that performance with Altrincham the visitors to Huish Park today.

Talking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah ahead of kick-off, he was asked about the past five days and whether he still felt he needed to strengthen his squad with new signings.

Dryden said: “I’m only 56, I feel about 86 after the last ten days, but the last three days has been pretty positive. From Sunday onwards it has been strange, we came in on Monday and Tuesday training with the very little staff we have left at the moment, but the players have rallied around me. I am not going to lie, it was bloody tough with the lack of staff, the lack of knowing what was going on, and on Wednesday they went out and showed they want to play at the club.

“We hit the ground running on Wednesday night and we want to do the same again today, there is a great atmosphere in the changing room. Do we have to bring anyone in? Not necessarily, I am quite happy how the players are performing and they are improving as the season has gone on. There is not great rush to get anyone in, but there might be one or two knocking on the door, so we will see.”

The Glovers have named an unchanged starting XI from the Wednesday night win in Hampshire to face an Altrincham side missing a number of first-choice players through injury and suspension. Dryden admitted it would be hard to drop any players after an impressive display at Aldershot, but does have striker Aaron Jarvis and midfielder Brett McGavin back on the bench after injury.

The manager said: “We can’t change the side after that performance, the only thing we would have changed is if any of the players were tired. This is why playing on a Wednesday is tough sometimes, because yesterday was our second day of recovery and you want a good training session before every game. We did what we needed to do and had a lot of analysis on what we did well and what we could have done better on Wednesday and about Altrincham. 

“I watched their game against Forest Green, they dominated vast parts of that game with the ball, so they are a good side. They are a bit like us and Aldershot how they set up and want to play, but they have a couple missing today so they might change their shape. We will have to work that out quickly when the game starts.”

Dryden said he was desperate to get youngster Ollie Hughes on at Aldershot but fell foul of rules allowing on three groups of substitutions. We believe the midfielder is playing for e Plymouth Parkway for their Southern League fixture at Yate Town today.