Boss pleased after players stick in game until the death.
David Artell said he was delighted for his players after they stuck in the game against Rotherham United to earn themselves a point at the death. Chris Porter won and then converted the equalising penalty in injury-time to level things up at the New York Stadium.
The Rotherham-born Artell was pleased that his players achieved something for their efforts in what he described as a ‘real tough place to visit for the opposition’.
Talking after the 1-1 draw, Artell said: “I thought we stuck to the task. We asked them to play a different way which in the current circumstances of our team development was going to be difficult. It is hard enough to ask them to play a different way when they have a way, so to get them to do something really different is a tough ask for them, but I am just really pleased for them because they got a reward for their efforts.
“It is a really tough place to come. They are big and strong and they know how to get promoted from this league, but I cannot fault my players for their effort and desire to stay in the game for long periods. It is never easy coming to Rotherham and I am just pleased for everyone.
“It was a definite penalty, it was 100% a pen and Chris Porter tucked it away after winning it himself. There is nothing that Chris Porter hasn’t seen on the football pitch and he was a reputation for scoring penalties, I don’t think he has missed many.
“We lost two lads through illness, one today and one yesterday, so we had to adjust to that. We had to defend our box really well and when we had to be a bit more adventurous in the last 20 or so minutes I think we passed the ball really well.
The boss added: “It is just unfortunate that it didn’t go on for another 10 minutes, because we could have gone for the jugular and really tried to win it, but in the grand scheme of things and where we are, I was pleased with the performance and the result today and I thought we deserved the point because we stuck to the task and remained in the game.”