David Horseman said he was satisfied with a point but insisted there is still plenty to work on after Bristol Rovers drew 1-1 with Wrexham in Sky Bet League One.
The Gas earned a draw thanks to Promise Omochere's late leveller, sending a downward header past Mark Howard after Elliot Lee's first-half opener for the Red Dragons.
Omochere's goal five minutes before full-time ended Rovers' three-game losing run in the third tier. The Gas complete 2024 with back-to-back away games against Exeter City and Stevenage.
Horseman reflected on the game, the impact of the substitutes and the quality of the group.
It’s really good we got the point...
“It was a mixed day,” he said. “I think it’s really good we got the point, and we needed the point to be totally honest. Ideally, we would have wanted the three, and as the game was finishing, we were probably the team on top and chasing the game.
“I think the boys tried to show fight, passion and energy in the first half, but I thought we lost our way as the half went on.
“To be fair to the subs, they made a big difference to the game and really suited the way the game actually was going. It’s a satisfying point, but there’s still loads that we need to work on.”
The substitutes made a made a huge impact...
“We have a really good squad; we have a good starting 11, and we always have a strong bench,” said Horseman. “Today was a very attacking bench. So, it’s really, really important because we had to change the flow of the game as in the first half it wasn’t good enough.
"We needed a bit more of a threat and a bit more power today. I think that was important, especially as Wrexham are a big, strong, powerful team. They made a huge impact. Even Shaq, right wing-back at the end. I thought, ‘let’s open up’ as we needed the equaliser, but I was hoping if we get the equaliser, we might go on and win it.
"We’ve got two wingers as wing-backs, and we just went for the game because I think the fans deserved that. They want us to attack, and a massive thank you to them today because I think they got us through it.
"They were absolutely brilliant today. Hopefully, it’s a little positive step, and they can have a nice Christmas and look forward to what's going to come on Boxing Day."
I thought Luke Thomas deserved his chance...
“Luke Thomas has probably not been involved as much as everybody would like, and the truth is that my temptation was to start him today,” he said. “But I think everyone has to remember that he hasn’t played much for the best part of four weeks.
“When Michael Forbes went down, I thought he deserved his chance, and he did really well when he came on. That will do his confidence a world of good, we all know, and the fans all know how good he is.”
We’ve got better quality than even what we showed today...
“We still didn’t create enough,” he said. “We are still too loose with the ball. We know that, and we’ve spoken in the dressing room. We’ve got better quality than even what we showed today. There was far more fight, and particularly in the second half and the opening couple of moments in the first half.
“We know we have the players, but I do think we have to take care of the ball much more. It’s too frantic. It’s a transitional team too much. To create as many chances as we should with the players we have, you have to have periods with the ball.”
We’ve got a really good group...
“I said the other week when I had to take the Leyton Orient game that there was obviously no fight and no passion,” he said. “Without that, you can’t even worry about what you do with the ball because you’re never in the game. That was a really clear message.
“The fans turned up, and it was brilliant today. I was so pleased for them when we scored. You have to show that as a minimum. That’s a minimum requirement.
"Don’t step onto the pitch if you’re not going to show that. They did today, and even when it wasn’t going so well in the first half, I thought they were still committed to the cause. They just lacked a little bit of decision-making or quality at times.
“We’ve got a really good group, and they do really want to do well. We just need to get some structure in certain areas of our game, and I think we could win plenty of games this season.”
