Town manager Mick McCarthy admitted that the Blues’ 1-1 home draw with Nottingham Forest was a fair result with the visitors having been on top in the first half. He felt his side improved after the break with Forest keeper Karl Darlow putting in an outstanding display.

“It was a good comeback, having been outplayed in the first half,” he said. “They were very good. Dean Gerken was probably the man of the match in the first half and Karl Darlow was certainly the man of the match in the second half.

“Seven points from nine, that’s not looking for a silver lining. That’s the Championship, we would love to have won it, we could have won it but we could have been 3-0 down, so I think it’s just a really good point, and listening to the rest of the results we’re still in there.

“We could have had more goals than we got, the one that Murph nicked off [Danny Collins] at the end I thought he was going to get another one but it wasn’t to be. He’s had a great season and all in all it’s a fair point.”

He added: “The spirit is terrific and I said to the players afterwards that you don’t get results like that without that togetherness and camaraderie, which don’t think you can put enough emphasis on. You’ve got to have it and it’s there in abundance.

“We wouldn’t have come back against Derby and won and comeback and got a point and probably deserved to win it in the end today, on the chances in the second half. But all in all it was a fair point.”

Despite a lengthy injury list, McCarthy felt Forest were still able to field a very strong side, far stronger than the one he would have been able to name in similar circumstances.

“Write the team down and see what they’ve got,” he added. “They’ve been whinging about injuries and they put that team out.

“I wouldn’t like to think I’d got 10 or 12 injuries, that’s for sure. They’ve got a good squad and they’ve played well today, in the first half, and I thought we were excellent in the second half.”

The Blues boss again had praise for the Town support: “They were getting a bit frustrated I thought in the first half, but we weren’t good, I understand that.

“But they got behind us right from the start of the second half and there was another good atmosphere in the place.”

He admitted that it was a difficult decision to leave Anthony Wordsworth out after his impressive performances against Brighton and Derby with Cole Skuse returning to his regular central midfield role.

“It was a difficult one for me,” the Town manager admitted. “Skusey, you could argue for him to be Player of the Year. As well as Woody had played, I was putting Skusey back in because he’s been the top man.

“It was a hard one. He’d had two games Woody, and I wasn’t sure how he was going to react. He ran as far or more than anybody on Tuesday, he’d had two really hard games. And he’ll be back.

“I left him out [of the 18] because I’d got fresh legs coming back. If you consider that if I’d put him on the bench.

“And I wonder how he would feel as well, coming off the bench. There’s all that going on. I’d got Greeny and I’d got Tabby, who haven’t played and are fresh. They’ve not just played two 90 minutes and if they have to get off the bench they might be a bit livelier. That’s the reason why. It was a tough one, but it happens.”

Forest caretaker-manager Gary Brazil was pleased with his team’s display: “I thought we gave a really good account of ourselves. I was really pleased with our first-half performance.

“I thought we showed a lot of commitment and a lot of courage in terms of initially dealing with what we expected would be a team who are playing well and was going to come right at us.

“We spoke a lot about making sure that we met that battle. I thought we won a lot of pieces off Daryl Murphy’s headers and challenges and we got ourselves into the game.

“The goal early on from the set piece was a nice bonus for us, but we also created two or three good openings from which we could have hurt the scoreline even more.

“In the second half we knew that Mick was going to wind them up at half-time and we’d get a bit of an onslaught and they would come at us.

“But I thought to a man we worked really hard, we met the challenge, we had a good fight and we had a goalkeeper who has been in excellent form this season, who made two or three crucial saves.

“For me it was frustrating that we conceded off a set piece. We just fell asleep when they took a short corner.”

Photo: Action Images

bluefeast added 18:38 - Mar 29 Top manager
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bluefeast added 18:38 - Mar 29 Top club
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bluefeast added 18:39 - Mar 29 Top team togetherness
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pazelle added 18:50 - Mar 29 You changed a winning team and we drew.
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howdonblue added 18:55 - Mar 29 As much as I admire mm I think he's boobed bringing in skuse instead of wordy today ! That is all should have put wordy in instead of hyam maybe
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Bluetone added 19:09 - Mar 29 He should have started Wordsworth and had Skuse on the bench then if/when Wordy ran out of steam he could have been subbed. That way Wordy not upset and shown to be appreciated that is man-management. The McCarthy way now means Wordsworth is now thinking either:- a) what's the bloody point or b) time I asked my agent to come up with a new club for me.
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GerkensBeard added 19:22 - Mar 29 There's a few negatives and positives that you can take from today but ultimately a draw was a fair result. Positives being that we really went for it 2nd half again and came back from a goal behind, other results went for us, and it's still 7 points from this week which if somebody would've said to me last Saturday I would've snapped your hand off. Players wise Williams excellent again, Nouble changed the game and has been fantastic these last two games. Negatives being that we conceded early and were poor first half again! Skuse shouldn't of come back in he wasn't match fit IMO. And another way could look at other teams losing as an opportunity missed. And unfortunately for us Darlow was outstanding and deserved the point for his team alone.But 7 points from 3 games against 3 top 8 teams I am very happy. Roll on the trip to Ewood next Sat.

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Lightningboy added 19:37 - Mar 29 Sorry but 2 points dropped rather than 1 gained. Dropping Wordsworth for your faves and thus playing it safe is why you'll always be a safe but steady average manager Mick rather than a top one who's brave enough to gamble. So predictable.
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RYITFC added 19:38 - Mar 29 That's not a great excuse for dropping Woody, If it had been Tabb or Green that had a couple of good games would they be left out the squad at the expense of Wordsworth, i doubt it. Feel sorry for him.
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Mark added 19:46 - Mar 29 A good comeback today, it's just a pity we couldn't go onto get a winner. We were certainly pressing, and I was surprised to see Green come on for Williams. “Skusey, you could argue for him to be Player of the Year." Cough, cough, cough.
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Michael11 added 19:54 - Mar 29 I think it's been made clear this week that the Skuse/Hyam partnership is not a full time solution. Glad we managed to get the equaliser, it's just a shame we couldn't get the winner as again, other results were generous to us. Hopefully Pulis will be confident of survival with Williams after today's result. Fingers crossed!!
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NoelTheDub added 19:54 - Mar 29 Mick I cant argue you have done a great job and have made us hard to beat but so many points dropped to sides we can and should beat you play it safe with your team selection as you did today.We are not so good with 2 holding midfielders and 1 up front.A great return from 3 very hard games this week well done everyone....
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battyblue added 20:04 - Mar 29 Team selection and tactics cost us two points today in my eyes crap statement about why not playing woody that's different class for you
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TimmyH added 20:12 - Mar 29 hhmmmm...both Tuesday and today we go 433 in the second halves and we play a lot better, arguably both Hunt and Anderson should have both been taken off when changing formation IN BOTH matches as they have not played that well (as Anderson has for most of the season). Good to see Nouble coming on and effecting matches perhaps this is the way forward for him or maybe MM starting 433 with Murphy/SEB/Nouble up front as we finished today's match. As for the comment about Skusey being player of the season..yes Mick I could argue against that!!

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TimmyH added 20:13 - Mar 29 * also have to add poor decision today from Mick on dropping Wordsworth, does not give out the right message if you play well.
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Tractamatt added 20:21 - Mar 29 As excuses go the one given for leaving Woody out is appalling, does he think so little of us fans that he expects us to just swallow that. The simple fact is that one of his boys returned and Woody had to give way. Shambolic man management!
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GerkensBeard added 20:27 - Mar 29 I too am annoyed at the fact that Wordsworth was dropped today because yes he has played well the last two games, but lets be honest he's not exactly set the world on fire. Skuse IMO was not match fit and should not have come back in and yes it does send out the wrong message to his players with the fact that wordy played well and has been dropped. But at the end of the day fans are always look for a scapegoat to as why we haven't won the game, if wordy would've started then it would've been why was hunt and Anderson starting ahead of SEB/ Frank. And if not that it would've gone back to Paul Taylor. And I believe that if we would've won today would you all be sat here arguing this much about it? No. Come on let's take the positives we've just had a 7 point week against 3 top 8 sides. Blackburn away next week which I believe we will definitely take 3 points from I'm saying now.

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unknown100 added 20:30 - Mar 29 I'm sorry I just don't think McCarthy is a good manager... Always happy with a draw and people say they like his honesty... It annoys me actually be gutted we didn't win, I've been so excited about this game then 1-0 down in 4 minutes clearly psyched the team up
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KiwiTractor added 20:54 - Mar 29 Look, I'm really pleased how well the team has done this season compared to the last few years and I do think McCarthy has done a good job, and maybe this is easier for me to say as I don't have to part with hard earned cash and watch the performances ......... but MM really does frustrate me at time with his selections and his comments about those selections. Anyway, keep it going lads and keep the dream alive.....

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JWM added 21:12 - Mar 29 Seven points in a week and just Two outside the playoffs and the moaners still love to moan! Good grief just bloody well grow up we're not Man City so just deal with it! Mick is working bloody miracles with this team and yet you still moan! Perhaps you boys really deserve Keane and Jewell after all.
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billlm added 21:30 - Mar 29 not going to complain about 7 in 9, but posted this morning hed cock it up and did no need to make any changes, to sfaid to upset favourites bad management, but at least made early subs to try and rectify end of
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KiwiTractor added 21:32 - Mar 29 Why do people go on about moaners ...... isn't this site about fans opinions?
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StowTractorBoy added 21:42 - Mar 29 Very disappointed that we did not pick up 3 points today but not surprised as nothing is predictable in football and I always knew this would not be as easy as some suggested. This was a banana skin and when I read Harry from Baths thread it was just a matter of turning up such was the doom and gloom at Forest. Not so and I thought Forest were very good in the first half and could have been at least 2 or 3 goals in front before the interval. I thought Hunt and Anderson were ineffective and Mick got his substitutions right but one wonders had we started with 4-3-3 whether it would have been a different outcome. Credit to Town for the efforts in the second half and in the end we deserved the point and could even have won it but for the superb Darlow in the Forest goal. Still all to play for but the next two games will be very difficult and once again the fixture list has been very cruel to us in respect of travel. If we can win our 3 remaining home matches we may still need another 6 points and if so this is achievable. I'll end with a well done to Frank Nouble who has improved his game no end - long may it continue.

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hancockingoal added 21:52 - Mar 29 I really don't understand? When I turned up today and Worthdsworth was not even on Bench I thought he must be injured? Then I could see that Anderson and Hunt were starting I was to say the least a little puzzled? Our opposition today had not won since I don't know when and with internal problems were without doubt short on leadership and confidence were ripe for the slaughter! Why did we start with a team that failed miserably for 45 minutes on Tuesday against a 'form' team with exactly the same formation? Am I missing something? Why play Hyam when there is no threat against us? Why play Hunt who is well past his sell by date? What actually does Skuse offer us in an offensive position? 1 upfront up home, sorry Mick I think I am losing faith!

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ITFCRealist added 22:04 - Mar 29 Terrible management. No Woodie, No Taylor and we draw to a team who haven't won in 9. What will the Mick apologists say about this one? 2 Good results (with attack minded players) got us 6pts. After this afternoon only a fool (or a budgie) can be happy with the moron managing us.
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