Matt Taylor admitted he was delighted with how his team played as they battled back from three goals down to earn a draw at home to Walsall.
The Grecians started the match poorly, with Walsall racing into a three-nil lead inside the opening half hour of the match. However, once Ryan Bowman dragged them back into the game with a close-range finish City competed and battled well and deservedly got back on terms.
“I am delighted with the point we got on the back of being 3-0 down,” said Matt. “It doesn’t happen often in football. However, it was a frustrating start. It is probably a bit of an awakening of how we have got to start games.
"They just competed more than we did to start with and then a slip and a bit of good play from them and then we are 3-0 down and chasing the game, but the character we showed at 3-0 down is what I want to see from minute go. We have shown that enough this season at the park, so I am really pleased to get something out of the game.
“That is a point gained believe me. We can analyse the start of that game and put it down to certain bits and pieces. We have been on a good run and teams are allowed to come and score goals against us and create we have just got to be a bit more streetwise at certain times.
"I just said to them in there that my hardest job at the moment is picking a team to go out there on a Saturday. Training takes care of itself. That is the only thing that is keeping me awake at night and today, maybe to start with, I might have got it slightly wrong, but the likes of Ryan Bowman, Lee Martin and Nicky Law really stood up today. The more senior players I thought they dragged us through it.”
Speaking about Ryan Bowman who scored two goals in the match, Matt Taylor added: “He is in a bit of form and we needed him to hit the back of the net. I just felt we had goals in us. Even when they were going one and two and three nil up, I felt we had goals in us.
"We just needed to sure ourselves up to a certain extent. Formation wise, because we were not getting enough clean ball in any areas, we were open as a shape and that is not what you want in terms of any game of football.
"The pitch will play its part in the next few weeks because you saw it was cutting up towards the end, but I just hope it has not taken too much out of them physically because we were chasing the game from half an hour in. However, the players have got to take huge pride and confidence from that performance.”