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Club News

McCALL DISAPPOINTED WITH SECOND HALF STRUGGLES

14 March 2017

Club News

McCALL DISAPPOINTED WITH SECOND HALF STRUGGLES

14 March 2017

Bantams chief Stuart McCall was pleased to see City come out of a challenging game at Charlton Athletic with a battling away point - but the boss admitted he was far from happy with the team's second half showing at The Valley.

A fourth goal of the season for the recalled Timothee Dieng just before the interval earned City a share of the spoils following a 1-1 draw with the Addicks this Tuesday evening.

Dieng's goal levelled things up on the night after Charlton defender Jorge Teixeira had given his side the lead slightly against the run of play ten minutes before half time.

After an encouraging first half display, McCall's men had to withstand some strong Charlton pressure in the second period, with the hosts going close to finding a winner on more than one occasion.

Following on from Saturday's win at Coventry City, McCall felt the Charlton draw wasn't the worst result for his side, but he was still frustrated by the Bantams' inability to match their hosts after the break.

McCall said: "We were glad to get a point out of the game but there is definitely a feeling of disappointment following our second half performance.

"We controlled the first period really, we've played some great stuff and got into some good positions.

"We were naturally disappointed to concede a goal against the run of play, but we've then responded well to equalise just before the break.

"Attacking to our own fans, we thought we could kick on after the break.

"Give Charlton credit though, they started winning more of the individual battles in the second half.

"We were struggling to get the ball to stick up front and they were playing with a real energy.

"We were fortunate at times with some of their chances but we have also defended well and got our blocks in.

"We changed it with Jordy (Hiwula) with around twenty minutes to go, moving it to three up front and trying to make us a bigger threat.

"With no (Nicky) Law, (Alex) Gilliead or (Alex) Jones tonight (Tuesday) though, we didn't have too many options going forward.

"On reflection, it was possibly a game of two halves, so we are satisfied with a point.

"Four points from these two away games (Coventry and Charlton) is a decent haul, and we now look to build on that at home to Swindon on Saturday.

"They (Charlton) have a very good group of players here, so we will take a point from this match."

On City's final scheduled Tuesday night fixture of the 2016/2017 campaign, McCall's side were backed by nearly 1,000 fans at The Valley.

McCall added: "The backing we got from the supporters was brilliant.

"They made some tremendous noise throughout the game.

"The only disappointment is that we didn't give them too much to cheer about when we were attacking that end in the second period.

"We now have trips to Scunthorpe, Bury, Sheffield United Rochdale, so hopefully these games will be easier for the supporters to get to and they can travel in even greater numbers."

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