Town Manager comments on 1-1 stalemate
- Chris Powell reviews 1-1 draw at Fulham
- Manager disappointed not to win on balance of play
- Chris heaps praise on traveling Town support
Huddersfield Town Manager Chris Powell was disappointed after a Fulham equaliser in the final seconds denied his side a first win of the Sky Bet Championship season in London this afternoon, but he still took positives from the game.
“We should have won on the balance of play,” Chris told htafc.com after the final whistle. “It was almost a perfect away performance; a real dogged display when it had to be alongside some good football. That’s what you do away from home, especially in the Championship when it’s so tight and tough.”
On his team selection, Chris explained:
“I didn’t start with Ishmael today and the extra man in midfield made us more solid through the middle of the park; I felt that was the right way to go today. We were tight today and that gave us a good start, allowing us to get into the game.
“We slowly, but surely, got into the game. That frustrated the home crowd, which we knew could happen, and then we came to the fore in the second half. I thought the team started to believe that they could go forward whilst still containing Fulham and we certainly did that.
“When our goalkeeper was called upon, he pulled out a couple of outstanding saves. Their goalkeeper made a few too. We deserved our goal in the second half, whereas Sean Scannell had a couple of chances through a header and a bit of a toe-poke. It was all happening for us.
“I asked Sean (Scannell) to have a bit more movement so we could give him the ball entering the final third, where he is most dangerous. He did that and it really impacted on the full back. He has been out for a week and the plan was to give him an hour, so it was testament to him that he lasted 70. Normally we would have left him on, but we want him right for next week.”
Cauley Woodrow’s equaliser came from a header down from 6’ 7” centre half Dan Burn, who was thrown into the attack in added time, and Powell admitted you have to be aware of and deal with that threat.
“When five minutes added goes up at the end, you look to see it out. We made a couple of changes towards the end to make ourselves strong, but it wasn’t to be. When the big centre half goes up there, you know the knock-downs are coming and although you may not win many, you have to react to the second balls. We dealt with one or two, but not the one that hurt us. You have to play ugly at the end and clear your lines.
“We’re frustrated and disappointed. We may be undefeated in the last three, but today feels like a defeat as it should have been our first win. That would have capped off a good week. I should be talking about a few more points now.”
Despite the result, Chris was full of praise for the Town faithful who sang his name at the full time whistle.
“I will still take a lot from today; particularly the support, which was outstanding again. They never cease to amaze me, our fans; they are just superb. They’ve come all this way and shown their pride in the team, which makes us all feel good – even though they will be disappointed.”
Another big positive from today was the performance of goalkeeper Joe Murphy, who made three great saves before conceding an equaliser that he could do nothing about.
Powell concluded: “He’s a good goalkeeper; it’s just that nobody has seen him play in a while! For him to perform the way he has done in the three games, he’ll be disappointed he has conceded in each match. I think his performances have warranted one clean sheet, if not more. He did everything he could to keep Fulham out, but he couldn’t stop the equaliser; it was point-blank.”
