Greg Abbott On The Scunthorpe Draw

Last updated : 15 March 2009 By Thetashkentterror

Blues boss Greg Abbott
United manager Greg Abbott spoke to BBC Radio Cumbria's Derek Lacey after Carlisle's 1-1 draw against Scunthorpe at Brunton Park, Abbott pleased with the commitment shown by his players in the game :


" They are a tough side, they are a good side aren't they, they have asked us questions today and we've answered them. We have stood toe to toe, we have battled away, we have showed a lot of spirit, a lot of commitment, a lot of endeavour in the game today you know. I have said to the boys afterwards that we have got to be pleased with a point out of the game. We were largely maybe looking at three but we were under pressure while we had the slender one goal lead.

" We were hoping that Peter Murphy might have scored when the ball bounced to him really kindly in the box in the second-half, that would have given us breathing space, but it wasn't to be. We have asked for improved commitment, we have asked for improved determination, and whereas we were unhappy with some of the stuff on the Tuesday night, we are a little bit happier with some of the stuff today.

" Good delivery is key isn't it, especially with a swirling wind and a difficult wind as there was today. It is important that when you get your opportunity to put the ball into the box then we do, and we probably didn't do it often enough again today. We did it the one time though and we have got the goal off the set play, off the corner, and that gave us a bit of impetus, it calmed us down a little bit.

" It was a tough battle all the way through, I thought that they contributed to a typical League One game I would say. I wouldn't say that there was fluent football out there today but there was a lot of endeavour, a lot of effort put in and both sides have scrapped it out and are probably happy enough with a point apiece. "



" I told the referee in the game that he was making bad decision after bad decision and that he needed to give us a break a little bit. I just thought that it was one of those games, I don't swear at referees, I don't criticise referees. I thought it again, I held my hands up when my players had a poor performance on Tuesday but who is responsible for referees?

" He has had a poor performance today but he won't admit that, and nobody will come out and say that the referee was poor, but I just thought that he had an ordinary game. Again, I am not going to stand here and have a right go at the referee though because he has probably done his best but I didn't think that his best was probably up to it today.

" He (Gary Hooper) has had the sort of chances that you think that he would probably score most weeks. We were actually talking with Nigel (Adkins) before the game about us not really having a great deal of luck. We haven't had a lot of luck and I think that we got a bit lucky in that situation where Ben (Williams) has made a good save but I think that he probably would have thought that he should have finished it.

" I am not too upset about that though, you need to ride your luck sometimes, we haven't had a great deal of it and it does help when your opponents miss chances like that. I thought that Peter Murphy's was a really, really good chance in the second-half as well though. We were happy about their miss at the end as well but if he (Liam Trotter) has got a Reliant Robin then he can have a lift home in it. That would have been a big disappointment for us with all the effort that we put in, I think that it was near enough the last kick of the game. "



" Again it just shows you, set-pieces, good delivery, big bodies, putting the ball in the box and that is what they did all day long. They got the ball forward and the two front players (Paul Hayes and Hooper) are really lively, really mobile and have been causing problems. Hooper has got 20-odd goals this season so that stands for itself.

" Michael Bridges can produce that sort of skill for his chance as well, he can find something a little bit different. He has shown one or two nice little touches there and his volley, if he really puts his foot through it then he might just nick it over there. He is a good goalkeeper though is (Joe) Murphy and he saved it comfortably in the end.

" We don't have the option of trying to stick it out at the end, we have only got strikers as substitutes at the moment, there are not many defenders, we have only got David (Raven). We can't put in a holding midfield player in and change it that way because we haven't got one. We have got no bodies available but we tried to win the game, they tried to win it, we tried to win it.

" I think that I would get criticised for not showing that attitude, we are trying to be positive and we are trying to win games. Sometimes you think that we just don't want to lose this but I thought that we had enough on the pitch there to stand with what they had, and it levelled out at a draw. "



" I think that we have to be happy with a point with where we are at at the moment and what is happening. There probably is a little bit of a lack of confidence running through a little bit of it and a bit of nervousness. The players have got to be patted on the back though sometimes, we can take criticism and we have to do and we will stand that all the time. I think that sometimes though you have to say well done boys, you have stuck to your task.

" Richard Keogh, who I thought that in the first-half got asked a lot of questions, him and Peter, because the two front players are decent. I thought that in the second-half he has given a really typical centre-half's performance at this level, and I thought that he battled away and produced a really determined performance.

" I thought that in the first-half he (Peter Murphy) got found out a little bit with his injury, he took a while to get into the game, the pace of it. It was a quick game wasn't it, the ball was going from back to front very quickly and that sort of play sometimes when you are trying to nurse your way through into a game is hard. He is a good character though and we know that, he is a tough guy and he has battled away and I think that at the end they were manfully doing their job.

" I just think that the players need a rest at the minute, we have had midweek games now, is it four on the bounce, or three or four on the bounce? We have had seven or eight games in no space of time, I thought that we looked a little bit leggy to be honest at the death in the last ten minutes.

" We didn't concede that goal again though in those final few minutes that you keep reminding me of, so we did that for you. I thought that we looked a bit leggy in the last ten, it is a big season, we are basically using the same group of boys aren't we and they have had a go for us, so we have to pat them on the back for that. "