Daily Post

Sending off changed the game

By Mark Currie, Daily Post

24 December 2007

Brian LittleBRIAN LITTLE reckons his players gave a good account of themselves at Millmoor on Saturday, despite conceding three goals for the third match in a row.

The Dragons boss had no complaints about the dismissal of Matty Crowell inside the opening 15 minutes, but claimed the midfielder’s rash two-footed tackle was the turning point of the afternoon.

“We’re struggling to win games with 11 men, so being down to 10 against a team as strong as them then you have got a problem,” he said.

“It was a double-footed tackle, there was no real contact in it but I can understand the referee making that decision. But I thought the second worst tackle of the game wasn’t even booked when Sam (Aiston) was hacked down and then the ref booked two or three of our players in the second half for next to nothing.

“It’s hard for referees and I don’t think he got the decision wrong because it was double-footed, but from our point of view that’s where we have lost the game.”

Little said the incident upset all the team’s pre-match preparations, adding: “We came here with a plan to get at them with three forwards and three midfielders, but obviously that went out the window at the sending-off.

“But we decided at half-time to try and get at them again so we played the two lads up front and we’ve tried to be positive throughout the game.

“The second decisive moment was the chance Sam (Aiston) had and in fairness we had a few goalmouth scrambles and we worked our socks off.

“I thought the lads were really up for the game and it’s disappointing that we’ve lost and maybe 3-0 flattered them. But with 10 men we were under pressure for the rest of the game and it took its toll in the end.”

Despite a third successive defeat, the Racecourse boss said: “The fact we tried to play aggressively in the second half was always going to give them a chance because we were gambling so it was a difficult day’s work for us,” he said.

“The fact that we’ve lost 3-0 again makes it look far worse than it probably was.

“But our spirit is good, our determination is good and we’ll keep working.

“I think we are bordering on something but the problem is we need to turn the corner. There is something there and yet when we make decisions like the tackle today then we are throwing everything away.

“We are not far off and I do believe that. If I didn’t then I would say so but January will come and I will try and find a face or two who will help us. But the current group of players are spot-on

“Rotherham are a good side and I think that with 11 men we could have given them a really good game and they are at the top end of the table.

“So I’ve got something to hang onto but whether people believe that is another story.”