Graham Turner's thoughts after the 1-1
Graham Turner was happy with the point earned by his side after their trip to Crewe this afternoon. Town had fallen behind to Byron Moore’s tenth minute strike for the home side but Luke Summerfield bulleted a header past Steve Phillips to restore parity eighteen minutes later.
“I think over the course of the two games, at MK Dons and again here, that four points is a good return especially with the position we’re in,” said the Town boss. “We’re pleased with the outcome after falling behind so early but we’ve done well over a period of time after we’ve gone a goal down and in one or two of those games we’ve come back and got a result. I was bitterly disappointed at half time that that had gone in as I thought generally our overall play had been good. The shape of the team was good and we limited any threat they posed to us and we looked a threat on the ball as we had a lot of the play. We allowed Crewe a bit too much room for 15 minutes or so after half time which could have been quite costly. But equally, later on we had a couple of breaks with Tom Eaves and Jon Taylor having chances and I also think we had a strong claim for a penalty tuned down when Rob Purdie went down in the area late on. He might not have been in a shooting position when he got the ball but he was certainly in a position to deliver a cross.
“We had a couple of set plays from outside the box but we didn’t make the best of those opportunities despite delivering quality throughout training yesterday when we practiced them. I thought our goal was terrific. It was a great delivery from Marvin and Luke had started off the move so he hasn’t half made up some ground to get in there and finish it off, so we looked really good in that situation.”
Turner thought that the injury picked up by defender Cameron Gayle was some sort of hamstring tweak but he wouldn’t be drawn on how long Gayle might be sidelined, only commenting on his excellent contribution prior to injury.
The manager was also quick to praise his defensive unit recognising the strengths that Crewe hold in attack: “They’re not an easy side to play against,” he said. “They have a lot of movement and don’t play with two big lads up front and they have pace and power which showed when we got caught for their goal. Overall though we handled things quite well. It’s tight down at the bottom but results have gone well for us today and all along I’ve felt that there’s just one place to be decided now in the bottom four and I don’t want to become complacent when I say that. We’re taking nothing for granted but looking at the table and the fixtures to come I didn’t think that the bottom three would be able to catch us. Our worry now is going back to play at the Greenhous Meadow as we’ve looked very tentative there in recent weeks. The Oldham game is massive next week and we have to be able to deal with the extra pressure. Supporters expected us to beat Hartlepool and Bury at home and my message to them is games are not easy at this level. I ask that they give us their backing throughout irrespective of what’s happening in the game as we’ll be doing our very best to win it. A win will make things a lot more comfortable for us but Oldham have some very good players and will be fighting for their lives. We need to stick together whatever happens on the pitch and if there is to be any dissention – and I don’t expect there to be – then it must take place after the game has ended. We’re in this together!”
GT ended the interview by paying homage to Town’s travelling support with just over a thousand backing their side in Crewe. “I think over the season, the away support has been incredible,” he said. “Recently they’ve seen some much better results away from home because some of our earlier performances deserved more than we had to show for our efforts. There’s plenty for them to be pleased about at the moment and we’re delighted that they’ve come along to support the team.”