|
" I think that both sides put in a fair old shift in the game. There was a lot of honesty and a lot of energy from both sides. Probably we are all saying that a draw is a fair result. They will be saying that they can do things better, we will be saying that we can do things a little bit better and I suppose that is the analysis out of it.
" There was a lot of honesty and a lot of endeavour has gone into the game and there was a little bit of nerves creeping into some of the play as well at times. There is an anxiety around the place but we have to make sure that we temper that and we get players playing with freedom and without shackles. We talked about the word pressure on the radio last night and pressure builds and you do your best to deflect the pressure from the players because it is a difficult word to deal with.
" Two people have dealt with it brilliantly though, Ben Williams and Cleveland Taylor have had the pressure put on them massively and they have come through it. Cleveland again today has not probably had his best game but he has still put his crosses in. Ben is improving and you can see from the start of the season when he was under serious pressure and criticism, he is actually now looking like a decent keeper, so fair play to him.
" It is terrific isn't it, it was fantastic for the fans the way that they applauded the man of the match award. That is brilliant because we haven't got a massive squad, we can't keep throwing things around and getting other players in. This is what we have got, this is what we are going to deal with. He has come through a tough time for him and we are delighted with that. "
" Danny (Graham) has got a groin problem, he looked short right from the start and we have got a glut of games coming up as well. So I shouted on at him after about half an hour I think it was, something like that, it might have been just a tad less, I asked him how he was and he was struggling. You could see that in his game, he didn't look sharp, balls were going into him and he was reacting slowly and lethargically so we had to take him off. He is no use to you in a game like this and the fact is that we have got some games coming up.
" We will look at the games and they are games against teams around and about us. Crewe have had a fantastic result today, I think that they have won 4-0 at Brighton. So that doesn't look like an easy task at the moment but we are going to go there and we are going to have a right go at it. What I have got is honesty, what I have got is a dressing-room right behind each other. We are all together in it and we will be having a good push on Tuesday night and we will see where it takes us.
" I think that we surrendered the initiative to be honest today. I thought that we started the game terrifically well and then I thought there was a really, really poor goal. A change of play from one side to the other and there seemed to be a massive gap to play the ball into him (Jeff Hughes), I think that Tony (Kane) has got himself caught too deep.
" Then that is where we have got to be tough, one v one, you have got to stand up and stop the player getting in as easy as he did. So that then gave them a bit of initiative and then the first-half sort of ended up 50-50. They had spells in the second-half but I thought that we had spells in the second-half and it levels out itself. I think that probably a draw is OK with everyone.
" We have got our crosses in again, we are asking the players to play and pass it as often as we can with as much quality as we can. We have got the ball into wide areas, we have got the ball into the box and again we are just finding that final touch elusive at the minute, that is again. I thought that at times defensively we weren't tough enough and at times attacking-wise we weren't tough enough. They are the areas of the field that ultimately are going to win you and lose you games. "
" He (Michael Liddle) just had a bit of a crack on his knee, again I thought that he was terrific. He has put in a really honest shift in there at left-back and he has got forward and tried to help Cleveland out up and down the left-wing, and Lewis (Neal) before him. He will be fine though I think. He (Graham Kavanagh) has got a sore one, he has kicked the bottom of the lad's studs so he will be sore tomorrow but knowing Kav he will be dusting himself down tomorrow and he should be OK, touch wood, for Tuesday.
" I thought at times it was a little bit edgy today, I don't know, it is the game isn't it. You have got to deal with everything that is thrown at you and sometimes it is not from within, cause from within, but it does spread. People big everything up and sensationalise everything, that sort of stuff spreads its way down to the pitch and that is when it sometimes does affect. They have to deal with it though, they are professional players and we are all professional people. We have to deal with that situation, there is no question about that.
" The media have to report what is happening and that is all you are doing and we have to deal with that. At the minute we are at the wrong end of the table and in a quest for some points. You are right in what your analysis is, we have got three games coming up against teams up and around us, they are important games. What I am trying to do is not let the importance and the height of the results get to the players that causes them not to perform as well as we know they can, because you have seen what pressure does to people.
" The fourth official (Gary Beswick) wasn't happy with me standing in my technical area doing my job unless I was shouting. So I said that I couldn't shout for 90 minutes but that I liked to stand near to the action and get involved in it. I think that was absolutely very petty, the referee (Nigel Miller) made some good decisions and some bad decisions, nothing affected us and I don't criticise referees. I don't come up here and say that it is their fault for this or their fault for that. Nothing in the game is done or given has affected us that badly.
" Singing will pick up the players, the fans have to realise that they need that and they want that, but we have to give them something on the pitch to get excited about. I think that at the moment that is the way that it is here, we have been used to winning games, we have been used to being a really tough team to beat here. "
" In the last few weeks that hasn't been the case but what we have got to try to do is win that back, win that situation back. The fans, we are trying to do our best to get them on board to do that with us, they are part of it and when they are happy we are generally doing OK on the pitch. We have got to make it happen though, we can't just expect them to turn up and do it for us, we have got to go out there on the pitch and perform and they will be behind us, no danger.
" They (Rovers) are a big side, (Rickie) Lambert, Steve Elliott, Byron Anthony, (Stuart) Campbell in the midfield, Jeff Hughes is a six-footer, Aaron Lescott. They have got some big players so we were probably a little bit short at the start of the game with the size of the players that we have.
" Obviously on corners you want your big players to come in and power things and get on the end of stuff but we are not blessed at the moment. At the end of the game we were bigger but the corners go in and they had some big lads to defend them. I thought that we kept trying to get in the right areas and kept trying to get on the end of it though, it wasn't for a lack of effort.
" I think that there has been some encouraging stuff today, everybody wants us and is desperate for us to get that result. There is anxiety there but I think that when you look at it there has been some decent football. We have played some nice stuff at times but I think that it is in the two areas, the last third, final third, and our defensive third.
" We have got to be tougher, we have got to be stronger, that is defensively and attacking-wise. They are the areas in the field that win and lose you games and I think that is an area where today we need to be stronger, but at least we didn't concede in the last half an hour of the game. "