Blues boss Paul Hurst praised his players for showing a lot of character as they came back to draw 1-1 at home to second-placed Brentford. Kayden Jackson headed a 73rd minute equaliser after the Blues had fallen behind in a first period dominated by the Bees, Neal Maupay netting the goal in the 31st minute.
The match was very much one of two halves, particularly from a Town perspective, with Hurst starting his side in a 3-5-2 system.
"We tried something different, clearly it didn’t work the way that we would have liked but at the same time, while I’m interested in our performance and what we can try and do, I have to say they are an excellent side,” he said.
"Going into the game I’ve watched a lot of them, as you do with every opposition, and it was a daunting challenge.
"I think them and Leeds [are the best teams in the division], and to be honest I’ve seen Brentford play well more often and in every game, they lost at Blackburn, but they shouldn’t have lost that game.
"So we came up against a team which is full of confidence and has got some excellent players playing at the top of their game.
"They’ll probably be disappointed that they didn’t get another goal when they were on top but we obviously changed things at half-time.
"The formation can help, but at the same time the lads had to show a lot of character tonight because there were some murmurings when some bad decisions were made on the ball.
"That’s part and parcel of being a footballer, but you’ve got to be strong enough to get through that.
"Big credit to the lads for staying in the game and then causing Brentford some problems as well.”
Regarding what was put to him as a brave move to switch to a system his team hadn’t lined up in previously against such daunting opposition, he said: "It can be deemed as brave, it can be deemed as stupid, the wrong decision, whatever. But if you don’t try, you never know.
"We wanted to try and have two strikers on the pitch, play a little bit more direct at times. Having watched them a few times we felt that was an area where they commit men forward and it’s on to perhaps break on them because they’re brave in the way they approach it.
"But we never got enough quality into them or looked after the ball. We knew that at times they were going to have the ball and we had to be patient, but when we got it back we didn’t take care of it well enough.
"We got sucked into that, we’d chase them, we’d get it and then we’d give it straight back. And that was something we’d spoken about.
"So it wasn’t working. I think it would have been suicidal not to have had three men in the middle of the pitch, so if we were going to play two up front, the two options were a diamond, which we weren’t convinced about, or the way that we went.
"I think we’ve got the players to do that but we came up against a team who were very good and still managed to cause us too many problems to continue with that.”
Despite still being without a win, Hurst believes the second-half display will provide a lift for his team, which still remains bottom of the table.
"I think it has to and that’s not trying to look for positives that aren’t there,” he added. "To be 1-0 down against that team on the back of what we all agree was our most disappointing performance at Hull, it could have been a really, really difficult night.
"But the message to the players at half-time, apart from obviously changing formation etc, was to show character and to hang on in the game as much as possible because I believed that we’d get a chance.
"We have a chance, we hit the bar, there’s a scramble and we don’t put it away and you think we’re not going to get anything from the game again.
"Then they hit the bar with a freekick and you think maybe we’ve got a chance. And I think in the end we scored a very good goal and after that it was difficult watch all night in some respects because of how well they look after the ball and the threat that they carry.
"But we managed to carry one going the other way as well and we probably had the best chance to win the game with some really good football and a slid pass through to Kayden, who will be disappointed he didn’t at least work the keeper.
"But at the same time he’ll be pleased with getting off the mark in the league and scoring a very good header.”
Hurst, whose side was watched by owner Marcus Evans, praised his players for not going under after such a tough first half.
"Yes, and I’ve seen that happen before, but one thing hopefully I’ve managed to create when I’ve been in jobs is a spirit, a togetherness,” he said. "There have been very few occasions as a team that I’ve managed has gone under, in a lot of games now.
"And that’s the minimum that I ask of them and I want to see that character and we’ll need that character, certainly in the situation that we find ourselves in.
"And arguably there’s no bigger test than tonight, being 1-0 down playing against a team that are on top of their game and doing very well.
"It’s probably the first time some of the lads will have experienced a few murmurs when they’ve made the wrong decisions but overall I thought the crowd were good and they were just frustrated but stayed with it and created a really good atmosphere and you see that at the end when they stayed a clapped the team off.
"Yes, overall everyone wants more than just hard work but I think people are always a little bit more allowing with their feelings when they see a team put the effort in and the commitment.
"We saw some great blocks, some good saves, some really hard running and some better football in the second half.”
Regarding Teddy Bishop, who limped off with a hamstring injury in the U23s’ win at Watford yesterday, he said: "I don’t think it’s anything too bad but he has got a hamstring injury.
"We think it’s only what they describe as a grade one, which is as minor as it can be so I wouldn’t envisage him being out too long.”
Brentford manager Dean Smith felt his team should have won: "It’s a feeling of disappointment, I feel like we’ve lost two points today. I thought in the first half we were outstanding and as good as we’ve played for a while.
"I think to go to any club in this league away from home and dominate the game as we did in the first half [is impressive] but the important thing is taking those chances and we didn’t take them today.
"If we’d have got the second goal it would have been game over but unfortunately we expended a lot of energy in that first half.
"In the second half they’ve changed shape, got a bit more direct, put the ball down the side of us, put balls into the box and were quite effective at it and they ended up getting the goal from the cross.”