Clayton Donaldson said Brentford would not have been happy with a point against Leyton Orient before they kicked off their npower League One London derby, but will take it in the circumstances.
The Bees drew 2-2 with their East London neighbours in an incident-packed match.
Clayton helped set up an equaliser for Paul Hayes after Orient had taken the lead and then put The Bees in front before half time.
But Jake Bidwell was sent off before the hour mark and Orient levelled late on.
“Before the game, if we were offered a draw, we would probably have said it was a bad point,” said the striker, speaking to Bees Player after the final whistle.
“If we look at the way the game went, we were a goal down, then 2-1 up, we had a man sent off.
“We had ten men with 35 minutes to go, that’s difficult.
“To get something from the game, with the way it went, makes it a good point overall.”
Clayton said Brentford felt comfortable once they went ahead but the sending off changed the game.
Jake Bidwell was cautioned in the first half for kicking the ball away and then in the second for a shirt pull.
Clayton said it took a wonder goal from Lee Cook to deny The Bees.
“We have been a goal down in quite a few games and have come back in most games,” said the striker, who now has 19 goals for the season.
“We didn’t panic, we got in to the game got a goal, through Paul Hayes, early on and it set the tempo for the rest of the game.
“I got my goal and we felt comfortable that we would go on and win but the sending off changed the game.
“It was a new test for us, we haven’t been a man short for a while.
“But we dug in and they scored with a wonder strike with five minutes to go.
“It got them a point.
“We are happy overall.
“As we always say, if you can’t win, make sure you don’t lose.”
Both Brentford’s goals came from corners delivered by Sam Saunders and were scored from a combined distance of around ten yards.
Clayton praised the dead ball delivery and the way The Bees reacted to the ball.
“I like those sorts of goals, I don’t get many of them,” said Clayton.
“There was a good delivery from Sam with the set pieces.
“For the first goal, we kept the ball alive.
“It was the same with the second, my goal.
“I could see the ball was still in the area and reacted first.
“If you react first, you are likely to score.
“Every set piece we had was dangerous, we made sure we got a good delivery and kept the ball alive.”
The striker felt The Bees should have had a penalty for handball at the start of the second half but referee Paul Tierney waved the appeals away.
The official then sent Jake Bidwell off and awarded Leyton Orient a debateable penalty.
Simon Moore saved David Mooney’s effort but ten-man Brentford conceded a late equaliser.
“We definitely had a penalty,” said Clayton.
“The guy has clearly handballed in the box.
“I don’t know how the referee has not seen it.
“He has tried to recover and then I shielded it out for a corner, he gave a goal kick.
“He has then given one, we have watched it back, Lee Hodson didn’t make a challenge, it was never a penalty.
“You get some things and some you don’t.
“They got it today but it was a brilliant save by Simon, so there was justice at the end.
“The referee got a few things wrong that probably cost us.
“We had to try and dig deep and they scored a wonder goal to take a point.
“We have loads of games coming up, you can’t win all the games.
“If we keep going, we’ll be OK.”
Brentford’s next match is an FA Cup with Budweiser Fourth Round tie against Chelsea on Sunday.
“I am very excited,” said Clayton.
“It’s a big team, Premier League players.
“It is where every player wants to be.
“It is a really big test, we will see how far we have come.
“You can’t ask for more than playing against the European Champions.
“Griffin Park will be packed, every player wants to play.
“We worked hard to get here.
“All the lads will be looking forward to it, it is something to remember.”
A full video interview with Clayton Donaldson is now available here for Bees Player subscribers.