Goalscorer Simon Thomas was ‘unplayable’ in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Gosport Borough, according to St Albans City joint manager James Gray.

The former Chesham United striker converted a sublime cross from Jo N’Guessan in the first half to open the scoring before the Stevenage loanee, who replaced Steve Wales, netted a second.

Thomas’ goal was just one part of a tireless display from the big front man.

“Tommo was unplayable,” Gray told Saintsnet. “He won every header, held things up, chased everything down and scored a great goal; he’s been exactly what we needed since he came in.

“We more or less had to carry him off he was that tired. He was on his own and he was running around trying to win flick-ons and chasing everything down. If players come off that tired, I know they’ve done their job.”

Thomas was not the only Saint to draw praise from the manager, with Gray singling out centre back pairing Darren Locke and James Comley, too.

“I was disappointed not to get the clean sheet for them,” he said. “Defensively, we were comfortable – I expected more from Gosport. We nullified what they want to do because we were that good.

“It could have been more convincing, but that’s the story of the season for us. They gave us a good 10-minute spell after their goal, but we defended manfully and, in the end, we were comfortable.”

He added: “The lads gave me the reaction I wanted after the disappointing result and performance at Bishop’s Stortford. They’ve got that in them and they respect us enough to actually put it right for us and the club.

“There’s a really good feel-good factor at the moment. We’ve had two good performances, the lads are fighting for the shirt and the mentality is good.

“Overall, I’m really pleased for the lads.”

St Albans return to Clarence Park on Saturday to take on Sean Shields’ Ebbsfleet United in their penultimate game of the season. Kick-off is 3pm.