Manager Lee Johnson spoke to the press after his side picked up a point on the road against Burton Albion on Saturday afternoon.
The game was an even one, with a goal apiece coming in the first half to settle the game. The hosts opened the scoring early on through Joe Powell after Jay Lynch made a penalty save, but that was quickly cancelled out by a brilliant Junior Quitirna strike.
The performance in Staffordshire was certainly a step in the right direction by the Cods, who ended a six-game losing streak in the league, but the next step will be that all-important first win of the season.
Here’s what the gaffer had to say after the game:
On the game as a whole…
“The point feels hard-fought, we’re taking these lads through a process, and I think they’ve been fantastic in the way they’ve responded to the work we’ve been doing – you saw that today as there was a lot of spirit in the side, that was clear to see.
“We didn’t allow many crosses to come in and those that did were defended well. After a good start in the first 15-20 minutes, we got that sucker-punch which was the first opportunity for the opposition and ended up conceding a goal from it.
“The statistics will probably say it was a fair draw; the game ebbed and flowed, and I thought we played the better football. There were a lot more positives from today’s game and that’s what we’ve got to focus on, we’ve got to take the positives and go again.”
On the positive signs shown by the squad…
“Progression is the key; this gives us another week now to get the boys fitter and I think we’ve still got some very good players out injured. Josh Earl comes back into contention next time out and is available which gives us a bit of natural balance at the back.
“I’m never happy with not winning a game but, at the same time, I was proud of seeing the boys implementing the work we’ve done throughout the week quite well, particularly off the ball, we still need a bit more confidence on the ball.
“Today, we wanted to win, it’s as simple as that, there were three points on offer, and we have to battle for every one of them. I thought the body language was much better today and we were buoyed by a loud travelling contingent, and we appreciate them.”
On individual performances…
“We took a risk with Ben [Heneghan] as he hasn’t played in 10 months and maybe the footwork got the better of him at the start but he’s big enough to understand that and held his hand up for the penalty – he was brilliant other than that.
“I thought we broke well throughout the game and were some good performances today, Promise [Omochere] was fantastic and Junior [Quitirna] produced a fantastic strike which was worth winning any game, let alone an equaliser.
“He took his goal well and gave us that exuberance, and a change of pace in that position. He’s a young player and when you look at his career so far, the world is his oyster in terms of where he can go so he’s someone I’m looking forward to working with.”