Huddersfield Town manager Chris Powell is keen to remain upbeat after his side conceded in the 98th minute to draw 2-2 with Norwich City.
Town had fought valiantly to get themselves into a 2-1 lead with just moments to go through James Vaughan's cool finish, but the striker was then sent off for removing his shirt and Norwich capitalised on their numerical advantage through Jamar Loza's back-post effort.
But Powell felt there were enough positives to take from an entertaining clash against a side firmly in the mix for promotion to the top flight and credited his players for a battling display.
“The result is never in the bag until the referee blows, but having scored so late into injury time I’m sure everyone of a blue and white persuasion in the ground thought it was,” the Town boss said.
“I’m now standing here with one point from a game where we definitely should have had three.
“We played ever so well and competed against a good team. My squad was hit by injuries before the game and we had a couple of cases of cramp tonight, but the players fought manfully. We also played at times, but we had to dig deep.
“Tonight was another building block for us following Saturday’s performance. I thought we looked a bit nervous at the start and maybe their disallowed goal galvanised the group, because after that there was some good football played.”
In pictures: Huddersfield Town 2-2 Norwich City
The Town chief believes his side's last-minute lapse in concentration could certainly have been avoided, but was also dubious about how the visitors were able to bring the scores level.
“I didn’t think Jacob Butterfield committed a foul in the first place and I wanted to get a sub on, which we were never allowed to do,” he added.
“I also thought time was up!
“You know they will get the ball in the box and when we had a chance to clear it out of the ground, we kept it on the pitch.
“It’s easy for me to say that afterwards though; you just hope the player puts his boot through it when he’s on edge.
“It was a mishit shot that fell for Loza, which sums up what has happened to us this season. We’ve been so close but yet so far this season and sadly it wasn’t to be.
“I’m remaining upbeat, as the players and our fans should as well.”
