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" I thought that it was a brilliant game, we should be disappointed shouldn't we because we have given away a two-goal lead. I say given away, we haven't given away a two-goal lead, they have earned their point by the way that they pressed us back in the second-half. It was exciting, I think that we are having some good games here, I think that last year's 2-2 was a great game as well, and this for different reasons.
" I take my hat off to my players, they have given everything they have got, they defended at the end when they had to do. Because we gave away a sloppy goal, that was my one big criticism, I thought that the first goal was a really sloppy goal. We think that it was offside but maybe you can see better from here with a good view of it. That was the only bit where I thought that we didn't react quick enough and it was a bit too easy.
" Apart from that though the performance, and we had good defending from ourselves, we had some good passing play and we had some really good attacking play. So we have had a bit of everything today but it was a terrific game for everybody and we are really pleased that we have come to another difficult place and we have got another point on our travels.
" When I jogged across that pitch last year I was getting told that I wasn't going to be the manager anymore, so it was a really bad night. This is a bad night because we have given away a two-goal lead but it has not got the same end result as that. I am still in there back with the players until Saturday anyway.
" I honestly feel that tonight was a point gained because it was a difficult game. You look at the way that the game has panned out and we have surrendered a two-goal lead. I think that more they have deserved to get their point out of the game with the way that they have pushed us back and the way that they threw men forward. They haven't out-footballed us, they have really bombed the ball into the box and worked off second balls and got their reward for a spirited second-half."
" Fair play, I am going to say to them well done, I am disappointed and my players are disappointed but I am going to say to them well done because I thought that they were dead and buried at half-time. Because we were so much in control, so much in command but they have battled away and I think that they deserved what they have got out of the game.
" Football has no rules has it and 2-0 is sometimes a tricky scoreline. Once you give a goal away you tend to surrender a little bit of the ascendancy and that is what Hartlepool did, they got their goal and they came at us. To be fair they went for everything and at the end we were hanging on a little bit.
" Ben (Williams) is there and he is in a game there that is another one where you think that he just wants a quiet afternoon where we just go out and win 2-0 and everything is hunky-dory. He has had to earn his money though and he has come up trumps for us there. There is a bit of pressure on Ben, we have not deflected it from him, but what we have said is that we have shown confidence in him.
" We are not going to just hang him out to dry, he got criticism for Saturday which I think is unfair in terms of everybody else deserved a bit of criticism and they don't seem to get it the same as Ben. Tonight he has had a terrific game, he has made some terrific stops which was difficult again. The amount of times they threw and kicked the ball into the box, he has got a lot to put up with and he has dealt with it terrifically well.
" I thought that we were terrific in the first-half and I thought that the way we broke and the speed that we broke was excellent. Even in the second-half we felt that we created some terrific chances or terrific situations. We think that Joe Anyinsah's goal should have stood, the one-two, but he (referee Martin Atkinson) has given handball. "
" We think that right at the end at the far-post with the corner we were unlucky not to get one in and (Marc) Bridge-Wilkinson has had another half chance. So we have created a bit but in the end this last 15 to 20 minutes we got rocked back. Overall I am comfortable with the performance, but we want to win every game.
" Don't think we are not upset because we are upset but sometimes you have to take a step back and have a look at it and think that it was a point gained and a point won at a difficult place. Let's move on to two games that we have got at home, we are decent at home and we can get something out of them and then we can continue our improvement in form.
" We looked at what we had on the bench, we thought that on the counter we could get the wide players going. Cleveland (Taylor) especially has tortured the right-back when he has got the ball and he has got some terrific crosses in and he has got in some terrific situations. We have got that extra bit of strength there with little Bridgey (Bridge-Wilkinson) tucking in and helping out the midfield three.
" It was a gung-ho performance, sometimes when teams go like that and they go long and they go direct and they get into your box then it is very difficult to contain. We could have done perhaps with an extra striker on but it is no good having another striker on maybe if the ball is going in at the other end.
" What we thought is that if we pinned their full-backs back with the two wide players then that would cause them problems and we could get out that way and we could still create the chances in the second-half. Which I think overall we actually did and on a more careful day we might have got that goal that makes the game safe. While it was 2-1 though and then obviously 2-2 it is a very tense situation and I didn't think that anything needed changing too much to be honest."
" Michael Bridges has got a problem, he has got out of his car tonight, Michael Bridges would have been involved tonight but he has got out of his car and his back spasmed and he is really in a lot of pain. He is in the dressing-room now, the lad is desperate because he was so looking forward to getting back involved and it is obviously a new one to you people because obviously he pulled out of the pre-match meal.
" He has just got out of his car after he drove to the hotel and his back spasmed up and we are just hopeful that it is just a 24 hour spasm. He is in bits at the minute though with his back and it was that bad that we were going to get him a taxi home. Unfortunately we couldn't get him a taxi for an hour though so he is still with us now and he is hobbling around the dressing-room, which is not good news for anybody.
" We aren't short of numbers upfront, we have got two centre-forwards on the bench with Gary Madine and Scott Dobie on the bench. So Michael's injury is not a pleasant one, it is not a nice one for me to have but we have certainly got Gary and Scott Dobie ready and willing to come in if required. The news isn't brilliant with Jeff (Smith) but we are going to send him for a scan. He is not happy with it so we have to have a look at Jeff's situation and see what the scan reveals.
" I will be telling him (Chris Turner) that his team did very well anyway and we are going to share a drink now. I think that he was delighted to get his point, I am delighted to get my point. There are good and bad and indifferent ways of getting a point, although it is not the greatest way to get a point when we were 2-0 up.
" The fans were brilliant, they were brilliant, they have clapped us off at the end. They have seen a spirited performance as well, they know that we have come under a bit of pressure in the second-half but they have seen us confound the critics once again. We got a lot of stick for Saturday's second-half showing, I have not made a great deal of it. We have told them exactly what we want, it was an eight minute conversation yesterday and I did all the talking.
" In that eight minutes we covered everything that we have been doing well and everything that we didn't do right. Then we said that we would go on, and out of the last ten games we have had a half a performance that has not been acceptable, and that was Saturday. So if we get another ten with one more half that is not acceptable then I would take that all day long. Two home games now gives us that chance to pick up that momentum and keep the thing going. "