Omar Beckles reflects on Town's hard-earned point away at Rotherham United yesterday. Another clean sheet for Town and another point on the board sees them sit 11th in the Sky Bet League One table.
"The boys put in a massive shift. We made it difficult for them, they're a good side, their home form isn't the best, but I think we dealt with them well. They've got some really good attacking players I think we nullified them and it's a positive point at the end of the day."
The Millers' had some former faces that Town would recognise. Striker Freddie Ladapo and Carlton Morris both had spells with Town. "They're good players and proven at this level, and they've recruited well with the kind of strikers they've got. So, to get a clean sheet, away from home, it's a positive."
Max O'Leary didn't have many saves to make during the 90 minutes. However, he parried Ihiekwe's header around the post for a corner, and that was the most he was involved in on the action. "It's always a good sign. I think it shows the lads in front of him are doing a good job, and I think from the front it was a good shift from the strikers to the midfielders, all the way down to the defenders, I think we've definitely earned that point."
Ryan Giles, Callum Lang and Shaun Whalley all created many chances going forward but weren't fortunate enough to find the goal. "We created openings better than they did, maybe not crystal clears chances, but we created some really good chances. Gilo was creating chances down the line. I feel like we're creating chances and if we capitalise on it and we get that final pass right, we will walk from that with three points. There's a lot of positives to take from that."
With nine games into 2019/20 Sky Bet League One campaign, Town sit in 11th place with 13 points on the board. "Considering the new squad, it's good. Players coming in, from the first game of the season through to now, we've had a lot of players come back from injury, some players have got injured. We bought in a lot of players towards the end of the window, and I think this squad is only going to get better. We've got competition for places and I think if we keep up the form whilst we're not getting that consistent run, we've probably not got our solidified team that the gaffer wants to play, I think it's a sign of a good team that can still grind up points because the squad is that good. Sometimes you look at our bench, and it's frightening; I wouldn't want to be on the other side and see Jason Cummings coming on or Dan Udoh about to run you down. These are good players coming on."
With Aaron Pierre missing the game and the next few games due to picking up a knock, Beckles will be involved. With a lot of competition at the back, players will be fighting for a starting 11 shirt. "I think it's always a good sign when the competition is there, but when you're in the side, it's a big confidence boost knowing you're doing something right. So, the competition for places all around the pitch is only going to do us well."
This month, Omar was called up to represent Grenada for the first time and played both games. Omar will be flying out back to Grenada to represent shortly after the Tranmere game. "It was really good; I enjoyed the experience. It was something different, to get the wins in the way we did, in the last minute, makes it special. I really enjoyed the experience. It's the same old really, but maybe a little bit fitter at times, when you're playing in that sort of heat. You tend to come back feeling like it's not as hot as out there, so you feel alright, otherwise pretty good."
"After the Tranmere game we're off, play two games out there, we only miss the free weekend where we would've played Bury, I'll take that. But looking forward to it and focused on making sure we head home to Fleetwood and take three points and then onto Tranmere before I head off."
Fleetwood currently sit fourth in League One after beating Rochdale. "They're a good side, good attacking threat. I'd like to say it should be a good game at home. A good side that is doing well, I think now that we've got the players that we've got I feel like we can build on recent performances and go into that game really confident."