Shaun Derry reflects on the Sky Bet League 1 draw at home to Bradford City...
Notts County Manager Shaun Derry was delighted by the way that his side battled back from going a goal down on the stroke of half time to claim a valuable 1-1 draw at home to Bradford City on Saturday.
A Jon Stead goal in the fifth minute of first half injury time could easily have knocked the stuffing out of a Notts side who have had their fair share of setbacks to deal with in recent weeks.
However, having battled back into the game after the break, Notts were rewarded for their resilience when Mike Edwards rose to meet Gary Jones’ well-taken corner in the 75th minute, earning a share of the points for Derry’s side.
“Yeah it was a good point for us,” the Notts boss said after the game. “Obviously the whole half time team talk went out the window at 45 minutes when we conceded just before half time, which really disappointed me.
“I just thought the reaction in the second half was big, was a big reaction and I felt that we really dug in where it mattered, defended the balls coming into our box like Trojans and I’m glad we scored from a set play ourselves, it’s been a long time coming this season.”
Derry was particularly happy to have seen his side score their equaliser from a corner, an area of their game that the Notts Manager admits they have been below par in this season.
“I’ve definitely been critical of our set plays this year,” he added. “It’s not been up to the standard which I’d be expecting after all the work that goes in, but it is what it is, and we’ve managed to get one today that gives us a big lift going into Tuesday night.”
Although obviously delighted to have taken something from the game, Derry clearly feels that there is further room for improvement in his side’s game and his hoping that they can build on Saturday’s display when they return to action at home to Rochdale on Tuesday evening.
“I think at times we played some good stuff, we still perhaps lacked that little killer final ball or shot on goal, at times we looked a little bit nervous, but no we dug in there, we stuck in,” he continued.
“We’ve not had a lot of things go our way here at Meadow Lane this year, especially in recent times, so to have come back from a goal down against a very, very good team who’s absolutely flying high on confidence at the minute tells a story for me.”
Subscribers can watch the full post-match interview with Shaun Derry on Magpie Player.