Head coach Scott Brown spoke to the press after his side narrowly lost out to Barnsley at Oakwell on Thursday evening.
It looked like Admiral Muskwe came off the bench to earn a crucial point for Town after converting his spot kick midway through the second half, but goals from James Norwood and Robbie Cundy meant the Cods would end 2022 with a loss.
Here’s what the gaffer had to say after the game:
On how the game panned out…
“If you can’t win the game, don’t lose it late on and we’re losing games way too many times late on, through set plays especially. Teams are putting the ball into our box, and I don’t know what we are doing at times. We switch off, lose our man, and don’t block.
“It’s two set plays today and it was two against Sheffield Wednesday as well; it’s not that teams are playing through us with attractive football, it’s the fact that they are bullying us late on so we might have to start changing that up and make sure we have a few more of the bigger guys on the park.
“That might mean a little bit less possession, but it is what it is in this league, and we may have to work on that in the coming weeks. It’s a mentality thing, last season they escaped late on and now it’s a mindset and it’s our job to get everyone out of that mindset and say that we can compete.”
On the positives from the game…
“We competed and I think we deserved more than we got at the end, we played some good football and made some chances and controlled the game at times with possession. But it’s alright saying that but if you don’t put balls into the box, and make teams defend, then it becomes a problem.
“[Cian] Hayes has come on and he did brilliantly for the goal. It’s a lovely pass and was a great run from Admiral [Muskwe] as well – he also did well pulling the trigger from the penalty spot. I’m not sure how he [Mags Andersen] wasn’t sent off but it happens.
“The lads will keep on working, they give so much in every single game and want to play good football, but there always comes a time when we might have to change things up a little bit. If we can’t defend in the box, we might have to change style to be a little bit more solid throughout.”