Michael O’Neill lauds Stoke character after battling draw at Huddersfield

Posted Sunday, January 31, 2021 by PA

Stoke boss Michael O’Neill praised the character and resilience of his side as they held on with 10 men to earn a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield.

The Terriers took an early lead through a deflected strike from right-back Pipa before Stoke levelled with a Steven Fletcher penalty.

Rhys Norrington-Davies saw red in first-half stoppage time for a challenge on Juninho Bacuna but the Potters dug in after the break to cling on for the draw.

“I thought in the circumstances it was a hard-earned and well-earned point,” said O’Neill, whose side remain without a win since Christmas having drawn five and lost two of their last seven games.

“I’m disappointed with how we started the game, I didn’t think we started the game well and were a little bit passive, then conceding the early goal makes it difficult.

“I felt we got ourselves back into the game and equalised off the penalty. Then the red card changes our whole outlook and approach to the game and we have to make sure we are not beaten.

“We showed great character not to be beaten against a good side, a team who move the ball like Huddersfield do. Our discipline, our shape and work ethic second half was fantastic.

“At the time I thought the red card was harsh as clearly he takes the ball. I’ve seen it back and I can understand that it looks reckless and on that basis the referee is justified in giving it.

“He wasn’t that last man but it was our own mistake that causes it. Then the player coming back from an offside position confuses the matter. Overall I can see why the ref gave it.

“We came here to try and win the game, we lost Nick Powell last night and I thought given the circumstances it is a good point.

“It adds to our draws which we know are too many but certain games are important not to lose and today was one of those days.”

Huddersfield are also without a win in 2021 and boss Carlos Corberan cut a frustrated figure.

He said: “We didn’t get the result we deserved or the result we wanted.

“One point was not enough for us, we didn’t do enough in the first half at the moment when we were dominating. We did some mistakes in attack that didn’t allow us to create more chances.

“It was a frustrating day. I am more frustrated with the first half when we were on top.

“They tried to be compact when they had one player less and we know how difficult that is but we created some good chances but didn’t finish them.

“I don’t know if the penalty was a penalty or not but that doesn’t affect what we did in defence or attack. We have to accept that decision.

“We missed chances in the first half that should have allowed us to go into half-time with a lead rather than a draw.

“No doubt I am disappointed, we should have had a minimum three points more from the last two games. The minimum result for us was the win.

“Bacuna is fine [after the red card challenge], he was playing with pain but had the mentality to continue playing the game.

“I was going to make a change early in the second half. The idea was to bring on Alex Pritchard or Duane Holmes if Bacuna couldn’t carry on but then felt I didn’t need to.

“It was difficult to attack them when they were one player less. They were compact and focused on defence.

“We didn’t find a way through a static defence, we need to move them better from one side to the other and get them running to clear the channels. We didn’t switch play enough and need to be more patient which is sometimes difficult.

“The most important thing was the mistakes in the first half that stopped us from winning the game and the three points.

“I didn’t see any mistakes in defence, just a couple of times in attack when we had options.”