Gaffer disappointed with late draw at Walsall
“It’s obviously disappointing to lose a goal right at the end but we’re still in the Cup and we’ll know what the prize is when we go back to our place, and we hope for another good cup tie.
“I didn’t think we passed the ball well enough at times if I’m honest. We had a few changes forced upon us and we never really passed it as much as we’ve been doing. Saying that, if you’d have said that we’d score two goals at Walsall, you’d maybe expect us to win the game.
“I’m trying to rack my brains to see if they had a single chance after we went 2-1 up, and I can’t remember one. So when it gets to that stage of the game you’re hoping to see it out. To lose a goal like that right at the end is really cruel but we go again. The lads are saying that Bradshaw was lying on the floor and the ball’s just ricocheted off him and gone in, and those things happen in football sometimes. But we’re still in the Cup and we set out to make sure that when we left this stadium today we’d still be in the competition and we’ve done that. It was a good well spirited game with a bit of a derby feel to it.”
When asked about the decision to take Mickey Demetriou off at the break, the gaffer explained that he wanted to get James Wesolowski on and for that to happen the shape needed altering: “I thought we were a wee bit loose and open in the middle of the park so we needed to get Weso in there to tighten that area up a little bit, and get some energy in there and I think it did that. I just think we should maybe have controlled the game a wee bit more.”
Micky said that Swiss keeper Jayson Leutwiler had injured his back slightly and that’s why Mark Halstead was sent on with 20 minutes left. The injury will be assessed in the next 24 hours.
The gaffer was forced into making three changes from the side that won at Dagenham last time out but was pleased with the performances of Mark Ellis and Cameron Gayle: “Players that come in need to work hard and be game ready and I think they showed that,” he said. “We’re really pleased that players can come in and help the team in situations like that.”
Micky refused to be drawn in too much in respect of the replay, citing the fact that there’s the small matter of a league fixture against Mansfield ahead of it: “We’ll take one game at a time as we always do but we’ll look forward to the replay as there’s bound to be a bit more spice to it for both teams, as they’ll know what the prize is.”
In his final summary the manager once again paid tribute to the travelling support – with Town fans accounting for over a third of the gate: “The only thing we’re disappointed about is that we’ve not sent them home with a victory as their support was fantastic all the way through. We’re frustrated that we’ve not been able to hang on and see it through but they’ll get behind us again I’m sure.”