Gaffer’s thoughts after the 0-0 draw home to Port Vale
Town welcomed Port Vale to the Greenhous Meadow looking to bounce back after the disappointing defeat away to Fleetwood Town on Tuesday night.It was a pretty decent local derby that had effort and endeavour but lacked that excitement around the penalty boxes.
After the game Town manager Paul Hurst talked to the press and asked if he got the reaction he wanted after Tuesday’s defeat.
“For me I think we got a reaction and I can’t fault the lads efforts today”, said Paul.
“I think both teams showed plenty of endeavour but just lacked that quality at times.
“I can’t really question the attitude today, both teams were trying to win the game and the last 10 minutes or so were very open with both sides wanting to try and find that winner.
“It ended up looking like a mistake or something like that would be the contributing factor should anyone get the winner.”
Looking for positives from the game the gaffer pointed out the clean sheet and another point on the board.
“That and picking up something from the game are the positives”, said Paul.
“You don’t want to fall to a defeat and I understand that we need to win games to get out of the situation we are in, especially if you look at results elsewhere today, but there is still a long way to go.
“Today for me was about seeing attitudes and straight away again we go back to confidence, that impacts on the final ball in and maybe the confidence to receive the ball at times.
“They tried and it might only be a small step but it’s a small step in the right direction.
“Before we came in there was talk of very few clean sheets and that’s another one since we’ve come into the club.
“I’m not sure what the consensus of the fans who came today is but I’m not too down after that.
“There were opportunities to win the game today and I think we had the better chances and situations, but without either keeper really having to pull too many saves out.”
Town probably had the best chance when Adam El-Abd found space in front of the Vale goal but couldn’t get his shot out. There we a few other chances that the manager pointed out over the game.
“We had a good spell, especially down this left hand side, where we got on top of the game”, said Paul.
“The first half AJ had a good chance where the keepers made a good save after he’s snatched at it a little bit.
“They had the scramble at the back post when the substitute has pulled it back but overall we gave it a go and it’s that confidence which we seem to be lacking.
“It’s about winning games of football but we haven’t managed to do that but it’s another point on the board.”
There was a change of keeper with Jayson Leutwiler returning between the sticks for Town. It was a tough decision for the gaffer but Jayson responded with a good performance.
“It was a tough decision because if I’m going to change things every time we make a mistake then we could become guilty of changing too much”, said Paul.
“I said at the time it was harsh on Jayson and today it was harsh on Mark but I felt it was time to give the shirt back to Jayson and see how he did.
“He’s kept a clean sheet so he will be happy with that but I’ve made it clear to Mark that I feel its two keepers fighting for the shirt.
“It’s Jayson who currently has it but he’s done far from enough since I’ve been at the club to say that he can make a mistake and he won’t suffer the same consequences as Mark.”