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JP
A 2-2 draw at Walsall, in a way you are always happy with points away from home, were you hapy with this one today?
GA
I suppose we are happy with a point in the end because of the way the game has gone, especially with going 2-1 down. But we are not totally happy with the fact that with our play in the first-half we haven't managed to do the same in the second-half and get ourselves a nose in front. I felt that if we got our noses in front today we would have won the game quite comfortably.
We looked in good shape, we looked in good order, the play in the first-half was excellent. Maybe the start of the second-half was a poor period for us where we didn't come out with the same zest and tempo that we did in the first-half. We surrendered a goal to them and then the game is always going to be difficult.
But credit to the players, they do show a terrific attitude, there was never any chance of another Oldham. They rolled their sleeves up, they kept going forward and we threw another extra man upfront to help Richard (Offiong) and Joe (Anyinsah) and in the end it was a defender (Richard Keogh) that scored the goal. But I think our play over the 90 minutes more than deserved a point.
JP
That is something the fans have been talking about - that Plan B, you went three at the back, you went for it and you got your equaliser. Is that satisfying for you as a manager then?
GA
It is always satisfying when you do…., I mean if we do that and we concede another goal people can say that it didn't really matter because we were losing the game anyway. But it does matter, we want to make the right decisions all the time and we were going to make the substitution with Scott (Dobie) for Richard (Offiong). To be fair to Richard he has come on and he has looked decent, a couple of headers he has won and he needs his pitch time.
Scott has had another 75 minutes and done ever so well for us again alongside Joe. We thought we caused them a lot of problems especially in the first-half, but it is nice when you make things and change things and they come off, and we can go home reasonably happy. But it is about the team and the club, not about me and that type of thing.
JP
Two excellent equaliser for your players, how happy were you with those goals?
GA
I just wish they weren't equalisers and they were goals to put us in front, but we had a bit of a run-in with Matty (Robson) at half-time for not taking his first chance earlier. But he is a terrific lad, he wears his heart on his sleeve, he has kept tramping up and down that left-hand side. I think his goal is obviously far more difficult than the one he didn't take but that is the wee man. He gives us guts, he gives us honesty, we are delighted to have him and he is doing fantastically well for us.
JP
Scott Dobie missed another good one as well in the first-half, you really won the first-half on chances but just couldn't get the goals though.
GA
Yeah, we don't want to be, well, or do we want to be, you don't want to be saying the same old story, that sort of scenario. But the ball has just eluded Scott at the far-post when we think he can knock it in. That happens, he is in the right position at the right time and that would have been three in three for him which would have been fantastic for him and his confidence, but it didn't quite happen.
We felt today that if we got our noses in front that we would have caused Walsall problems. We felt we had the edge of the game, especially in the first-half but it evened itself up in the second-half and we are probably happy enough to have the point now.
JP
And you brought him back into the starting line-up Scott Dobie, do you think he justified that for you today?
GA
Yeah, I thought they caused the big two (Mark Hughes and Clayton McDonald) a lot of problems. They will not always score the goals themselves, they will create chances for others and they will make chances for others with their workload. I thought the shift they put in in the first-half especially was terrific, Joe was tearing people all over the place creating space for others with his willingness to work the channels and work in behind people and Scott does exactly the same. So I have absolutely no problem with that.
JP
You know me, there is always a cloud to every silver lining, how do you feel about the goals you conceded?
GA
Well you never like conceding any goals do you. But the first goal we were in a great position on this left-hand side, and again it was like it was done on the counter-attack where we should be possibly a little bit more solid you know. But if we want to go forward and we want to play open football then you are going to leave gaps.
To be fair it fell to the worst person in the world did the chance, (Darren) Byfield, a terrific player and he has done it time and time again. Richard (Keogh) has had a little slip and he has got in behind him and he has finished it really well.
The second goal, we think that the first one we have got away with because he (Troy Deeney) has smashed it against the post and we probably should defend the second one better. But sometimes when the ball does that attackers are more quick witted than defenders and he (Steve Jones) has poked it home. But never happy to concede goals but pleased that we got two away from home and we have got our deserved point.
JP
A key moment in the second-half at 1-1, it seemed that Anyinsah had been played clean through, one of your players (Dobie) was fouled, the referee (Steven Cook) allowed no advantage, didn't wait, just blew up and Anyinsah would have gone clean through. That is the sort of thing that is going against you seemingly this season?
GA
Well I did say to the fourth official (Rob Merchant) in the nicest possible way, inside my technical area and without using any foul and abusive language, why didn't he just wait one second to see what was happening? That is all the referees have to do and I really see this happening too often when referees are quick to blow up. One second is nothing in football is it, the referee (Russell Booth) waited 25 minutes before he gave the penalty on Tuesday night. So one second today would have been OK I think.
JP
I think it would but that decision there, because he was clean through Anyinsah and you have got to back him there. The penalty as well against Leeds that shouldn't have been a penalty anyway and also the free-kick against Southampton. Do you hope that later in the season the luck is going to start to turn back your way?
GA
Listen, let's not become a manager that is going to start blaming referees. But I take your point, we are probably having the rough end of it, I am waiting for even-stevens to come round. But I don't want to be sitting here saying if that had happened or that had happened then we would have had six or seven more points.
Because I am not that type and I don't want to blame other people. We had enough of the play today to win the game but it is a perfectly valid point and certainly those instances do change games at times. Maybe we need a little bit of luck round those situations in the future.
JP
Macclesfield coming up on Tuesday, another opportunity for you to look at more of your squad, or does this one become one where you are thinking about the weekend perhaps?
GA
I am liking the fact that we are three unbeaten and I want it to be four unbeaten.
JP
So you will put out your strongest team or will you give a few players a chance?
GA
I want to win the game, so I am not trying to avoid it but we will one or two but not many. We want to win the game, I think if we win are we in the quarter-finals? Does that mean three games from Wembley? Well that is an incentive to us, I don't want to get beat on Tuesday, not for anybody. So my players will want to win as well and it is a good game for us to look forward to and it would increase our run to four. I just do not want to suffer a negative.
JP
A quick look at the injury situation broadly, how is everything including (Paul) Thirlwell?
GA
Not so good Thirlwell obviously for today, we will see how he is over the weekend. He is going to see how it settles down, Dolly (Neil Dalton) has given him a course of treatment this week and we will see how he is on Monday morning, I would doubt, well he would be very doubtful, he won't play on Tuesday night that is for certain.
JP
Nothing today?
GA
Not that I know of but then again they wake up on Sunday morning with their little bumps and bruises, but I think we are OK at the moment. There is nobody there that is telling me that they are struggling.
JP
And finally, over 500 fans from Cumbria came to watch this one, they were fantastic today. What would you like to say to them to try to get them to Brunton Park?
GA
Well I didn't get the chance to say much about them on Tuesday. I thought on Tuesday night they were absolutely magnificent at Leeds, and it is Leeds United and they do enjoy going there. They have done it again today at Walsall, so they are not picking their games. They are coming, they are supporting us, they were fantastic, the ovation they got at the end was terrific.
There was a little bit of a grumbling halfway through the second-half because I think they were probably as frustrated as me. But they are absolutely on the road the best supporters in our division, and you can include your Leeds United in that as well.