BOSS PRAISES SHOW OF CHARACTER
GRAHAM Coughlan praised the spirit of his Bristol Rovers side after they battled to a 0-0 League One draw at Accrington Stanley on Saturday.
The new Rovers manager, who was taking charge of his first League One game since being made the boss permanently, was honest as ever, criticising the quality of his side’s performance as only some excellent saves from goalkeeper Jack Bonham kept them in the game at the Wham Stadium.
Accrington had 16 shots during the game, with six on target, while the Gas managed just to get just two of their nine efforts on target, one of which was a 94th-minute free-kick from Liam Sercombe which required a top stop from Jonny Maxted.
Speaking after the game, Coughlan said: “At the end of the day we have come to Accrington Stanley away on a cold, wet, windy January day, we have dug deep and showed great character, we have showed great pride and passion and we have come away with a point. Let’s call it a positive point.
“If you look at the weather, the conditions, the facilities, then I guess it is a point gained.
“It was another clean sheet, let’s look for the positives that we can.
“I just said to the players in the changing rooms we lacked a little quality which could have won it and a couple of naive decisions could have cost us
He continued: “We looked a little bit ring rusty and we didn’t have that zest and that quality about us, when we got at the back of teams - we normally cut them open, but at the end of the day in the last three away performances we have two wins and a draw, seven points to show, so I can’t really grumble.”