Head coach Joey Barton saw his side come from two goals behind with Ched Evans' brace sharing the point at Highbury as Fleetwood Town drew 2-2 with Southend United on Saturday.
The Cod Army came from behind twice against the relegation threatened side, courtesy of goals either side of half-time from Harry Bunn and Luke Hyam.
However, a late Evans penalty – after Paddy Madden was fouled – sealed a point in a game in which Joey Barton’s side were unfortunate to not collect all three points.
Here are Joey Barton’s best post-match quotes…
Thoughts on the game…
“It was a game of two halves really, I thought we were always the side that was going to control it, we came to win the game and they had a game plan to maybe hit us on the counter attack and secure a point or three if they could get it.
“I expected them to be a bit more defensive minded but then also they’ve got some quality players, the likes of Cox, Michael and Harry Bunn, so we knew they had the ability to hurt us, but I do think we shot ourselves in the foot. Certainly, with the goals that we conceded, experienced players for me have to certainly clear certain areas of the pitch out.
“But the response to it was superb, in the second half I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves. With a little bit of luck maybe the bounce off the crossbar and the ball bouncing in the six-yard-box, we could have gone on and won the game.”
On kicking on after the penalty…
“Yeah obviously you’re hoping it goes in, it’s a penalty so you would always want, especially someone as experienced as Ched to put it away which he did. Then I thought can we go on to win the game and we tried, the lads gave everything they had and that’s all we can ask for.
“The key is not giving teams the opportunity to take the lead on you, whether you’re Liverpool, Manchester City, Barcelona – it’s tough if you give teams goals and we’ve got to learn from those lessons.”
On the substitutions…
“We worked on that in training, during the week, as well as the shape. I went with the lads who delivered to good performances at Accrington and the keeper who obviously kept a clean sheet, so I gave them the opportunity to keep a hold of their shirts and they didn’t do that.
“They’ve allowed Nadesan to come on and be superb and Ash Hunter who really contributed to the game, albeit give a stupid free-kick away for their second goal. But look they took the performance on and also Ash Eastham came in there and made some key headers and really settled the back three down.”
On finishing the season strong…
“We’ve got to make sure we maintain the momentum, finish as strong as we possibly can, set the bench mark for next season and come back and be bigger, better, stronger.”