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JP
What was your view on that one tonight?
GA
Erm, I thought probably for the neutral it was a terrific game, both sides in the first-half looked like they wanted to see out a 5-5er. I thought defensively both teams were very ordinary, and in the second-half we thought we defended much better.
We were looking to try to win the game and came close on a number of occasions but just couldn't quite force that winning goal. But, certainly we think, I know the neutral will have loved the first-half, but we thought in the second-half we looked a lot more solid, and we looked like scoring as well, which is the hard.
JP
They were very impressive coming forwards at times were Exeter, did that curtail how much you could attack in the second-half?
GA
I thought both teams were impressive going forward today, to be honest I thought we had probably more chances than they had. We played some fantastic football for half an hour and found ourselves 2-1 down. In the first half an hour I thought we were terrific, got Ben Marshall on the ball behind the front two and looked really lively, and you find yourselves 2-1 down.
So, sometimes you have got to defend and you have got to be a bit tougher, and sometimes you can't always have both of it. When we defended better in the second-half we didn't get our goal, but I thought some of our play was fantastic.
The work-ethic is flying through the team, we are on a hell of a run by the way in terms of games and travels and look at the age group of the team and look at where it has come from, look at how it has been assembled. I think they are doing a tremendous job and they are getting the support they deserve.
JP
I certainly wan't criticising your own attacking, but the danger of Exeter, did that mean that you perhaps couldn't go forwards as much as you would have liked?
GA
Yeah, obviously, but if we had carried on in the same way as the first-half was going then it could have been 5-5. I don't think Paul (Tisdale) would have wanted that and we certainly didn't want that. We thought we were giving them far too much room, we were dropping off too deep as a back four.
We said to be tougher, to get in their faces and make more tackles. Little Tom (Taiwo) has come into his own, Danny (Livesey) and Murph (Peter Murphy) got higher up the pitch, tackled, engaged higher up the pitch. That enabled us to defend our goal a lot better which we did in the second-half.
It looked like in the first-half we could concede every time they attacked, but at the other end it looked like we could score as well. So, it was one of those games, it was a funny sort of game, but we certainly sorted it out in the second-half and I thought we looked a lot more disciplined with our defending, and we still looked like we had an attacking threat.
JP
The scorer of their goals, Ryan Harley, you can see why he is the subject of interest from clubs much higher than this?
GA
Well, he has gone somewhere (Swansea), he has already been transferred, he is on loan to Exeter so he has already got his move.
JP
Plenty of interest, yeah, some player. A really good first goal from him, the second one, do you feel you could have done a bit more to stop that one?
GA
I thought we could have done more to stop both goals, but we were too deep. I didn't think we were aggressive enough and I told the players that at half-time, and they responded in the second-half.
JP
In terms of the overall quality of your goals, the first goal wasn't a moment of brilliance like we had on Saturday but it was a brilliant team move the way that that one went in.
GA
I thought we played some really, really good football and the first goal was the end to a fantastic move, and that is what we want Francois (Zoko) doing, and Craig (Curran) linking up.
I am delighted Craig has got another goal and his tally is starting to mount now, I thought his all-round effort was good again. We have played some nice stuff, the defending side of it was just a little bit loose at times but we got a grip of that.
JP
A very intriguing encounter coming up at the weekend, Sheffield Wednesday, arguably the division's biggest side, not playing like the quality they would have wanted to, but a big test all the same for your side?
GA
Yeah, we keep coming up against big sides don't we but these boys keep pulling up performances. They are on a run with a lot of games and a lot of travelling, we are actually down to the bare bones in terms of numbers. We have got attacking options but defensively and midfield-wise we are actually really on our last legs.
We have got a young squad and an inexperienced squad, but they are all putting in a fantastic shift for the club. They all want to be here, and they want to wear the shirt, and they want to make the crowd proud of what they are doing. We are supporting them all the way through because they are doing a terrific job.
JP
With that said, was your heart in your mouth when the referee (Andy Haines) reached for his pocket after that tackle from Danny Livesey towards the end right in front of you?
GA
No, Danny got there like the number ten bus didn't he, as quickly as he could.
JP
Chris Lumsdon is nodding behind you.
GA
Lummy wouldn't have even got there.
JP
Let's talk about some of those players who are out for you, Gary Borrowdale ill today I am told?
GA
Yeah, ill today, not well. Lubo (Lubomir Michalik) obviously not available, they are big players and look at the players we have lost. We keep managing to put a team out there that keeps putting in good performances for us, and we have lost some phenomenal players this season. The resources to get better in aren't always there but we keep managing to find people, and this squad is going to.........
If we can keep this squad together and help it along with a couple of a bit more quality maybe between now and the end of the season, certainly in the summer, it is going to be a good group. There are some terrific lads to work with and there is a terrific energy and attitude throughout the squad.
JP
What is the timeframe with Lubo as you know it at this moment?
GA
I have no idea, a week, two weeks, it is certainly not going to be Saturday.
JP
In terms of that then, if anyone got an injury you would really be in a bit of a quandry there?
GA
We are on our backsides, we are on our backsides, it is very difficult. But, we are hoping that Liam (Cooper) is going to be back with us and Lubo is going to be fit within a week, so it is difficult to bring somebody in and then with those two you would have five centre-halves, which is ridiculous. But, at the minute we are walking on broken glass a little bit.
JP
Any idea when Liam Cooper might be back with you?
GA
Erm, we hope, what are we on this week, Friday, hopefully by Monday he should be back after an X-ray to say that his hand is OK. But, then he probably needs a few days training, so he will probably miss Saturday and Tuesday, but we are hopeful we can get him back after that. Joe Dudgeon as well, so the whole thing looks a bit rosier and we can look forward not as nervously as we are at the moment.
JP
It is three unbeaten though just to wrap up, happy with the point or feel that it should have been three?
GA
Erm, everybody feels that it should be three. You are looking at home games and you are always trying to win your home games. But, we have played against a good side, we have played some smashing stuff, I thought to the neutral it was probably a really good game.
We are always disappointed that we haven't won, but we haven't got beat and let's try to build a nice little run and get some momentum going. But, certainly we can't ask for much more than we are getting from the players at the moment.