“As a leader and the number nine you have to step up to the plate.”
That’s the verdict of Courtney Baker-Richardson after his pressure penalty earned Crewe Alexandra all three points against Notts County on Saturday.
The striker kept his nerve during a long delay to dispatch a 98th minute spot kick and earn a 1-0 win for The Railwaymen.
The clinical strike took him to eight goals for the campaign and he is now Crewe’s leading scorer.
Baker-Richardson said: “As a leader and the number nine it’s a moment when you have to step up to the plate and help the boys out.
“I knew it was the dying moments of the game and the pressure was there - but you have to stay cool and composed and thankfully I put it in the bottom corner.
“Joe White was chirping in my ear saying he wanted to take the penalty but there was no chance he was getting the ball off me.
“It can make you a hero or a zero but you have to take a breath and do what you have to do.
“It was a game we could have put to bed in the first half. In the second half they had more aggression and at points we were camped in our half.
“But I think this win shows what we are building here at Crewe. They are in second in the league and it was good to win again at Gresty Road. We are a good unit.”
He added: “I am a team player and if I’m not scoring I want someone else to score.
“There’s never a moment when I think I’m the only one who needs to score. I want everyone to do well. If I’m sitting at the top that’s cool; if it’s someone else that’s fine.
“I’m just happy if the boys are chipping in with the goals and we are doing well.”