Mark Robinson is hopeful that Alex Woodyard’s second-half injury is not as bad as first feared.
Our skipper was withdrawn in the second-half as a precaution during what was a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the Pirelli Stadium, but our Head Coach was quick to explain that the staff are optimistic over the extent of the problem.
“He was a slight doubt (before the game), only because he had DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness,” said Robbo.
“Tim (Maynard) checked the strength, and it was all there. We’re hopeful that it was nothing more than cramp.”
As for the game itself, there was a feeling that it was more a case of two points dropped as opposed to it being a point gained.
“A draw is a fair result, but we did have a couple of clear-cut chances, and obviously if you go 1-0 up it’s always going to feel like two points dropped, especially due to the manner of the goal that we conceded," added our Head Coach. "I felt we defended well up until then, but we could’ve done a lot more to stop it.
“We started well in the first 15 minutes and then they built up a head of steam, they started to stretch us a little bit and we didn’t deal with the balls into the channels that well. I do think that a couple of our decisions helped them along the way, and we were a little bit out of balance.
“It was never going to be a game of beauty. Things were breaking down, but we went in at half-time and we addressed what we needed to do better. I felt we came out after that much better. We carried a threat and had some good chances, and it was no surprise when our goal came.”
It was certainly a well-taken strike from Palmer, who notched up his eighth goal of the season following a neat interchange between substitute Ayoub Assal and Jack Rudoni.
“It was a great strike," added Robbo. "I think that came from our decision-making being better in the final third, Ayoub slid him in, and again it’s about staying composed in those key moments.
“There’s a lot of things that they need to do better, both on and off the ball. We’ve got to be hard to beat but we don’t want to lose our threat and excitement. I’m disappointed that we haven’t come away with three points and so are the lads.”