DAVIS Keillor-Dunn celebrated his 27th birthday with a goal on Saturday.
The forward got what proved to be the winner at Port Vale in the FA Cup first round.
He told the Chronicle: “You can’t ask for much more, a birthday goal and into the next round.
“It’s not something I was thinking about during the game.
“We always play on our birthdays.
“The gaffer was never going to give me a day off.
“It was a good day out and nice to get on the scoresheet.”
Keillor Dunn says he always believed his scoring run, and the team’s improvement in general, would come despite a slow start.
“I always try to tell the boys to keep doing our stuff. Play freely and we’ll keep getting chances.
“It’s about consistency and confidence to keep doing the right things.”
Keillor-Dunn, who was relegated into non-league football with Oldham in 2022, is hoping to reach the Championship with the Reds this season but knows they must improve their home form.
“We have just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing away in front of our home crowd.
“If we get the home form up as well as the away form we’ve got, who knows what we can do?
“I class myself as one of the older players and I keep telling the lads to stay confident.
“They are good lads and just need to believe in themselves.”
Keillor-Dunn is hoping to marry a promotion challenge with a lengthy cup run.
“I haven’t had many good FA Cup runs.
“I scored at Ipswich to get a replay (for Oldham) which was a good moment.
“We have quality in abundance so we can have a decent run.”