Brentford Manager Uwe Rösler said he was “very, very happy” that his side earned a point in a 1-1 draw against Tranmere Rovers but admitted he may not feel the same in a few hours.
The Bees took a share of the spoils against the npower League One leaders thanks to a Jonathan Douglas goal five minutes in to stoppage time.
The visitors had dominated the first hour of the game but fell behind to a John-Louis Akpa Akpro strike and looked set for defeat before their late goal.
Uwe said his players deserved credit for the way they shut down the league leaders.
“My emotion now is that we are very, very happy with a point,” said the Brentford boss.
“When you are 1-0 down with 30 seconds to go and you score, we have to be very happy with a point.
“Tomorrow morning, I think I will be disappointed with the point.
“We played a system that was very effective last year.
“When we had the ball we were 4-3-3 but when they had it we were 4-1-4-1.
“Tranmere are the league leaders and have scored an enormous number of goals.
“They did not create anything until they scored.
“We gifted them the goal, again.
“After that they had a spell, yes, of five to ten minutes.
“The headline should be that we gave them a real run for their money and should be very happy that we got an equaliser 30 seconds before the end.”
Uwe made two changes just before Tranmere’s goal, withdrawing Ryan Fredericks and Harry Forrester and bringing on Sam Saunders and Clayton Donaldson.
He explained the two players were tiring and wanted to make sure his team continued to press Tranmere in the way they had done.
He said he felt the Tranmere goal had more influence on the game than the substitutions.
“Ryan Fredericks was running out of steam,” said Uwe.
“The reason we were so dominant in the first half was that we pressed high up the pitch with three up front.
“Ryan was running out of steam and I felt Harry was not doing what we had done so well for 50 minutes.
“That is why I changed it.
“The momentum went a little to them but I felt the momentum only really went to them after they scored, not before.
“After they scored they had a spell of five to ten minutes where they had a lot of play on the left.
“This is why we took Shaleum Logan off; he had a yellow card and was in danger of a red.
“We fought our way back in to the game.
“It was deserved that we got a point.
“We did a lot of things right.
“I was disappointed to be in a position that we were 1-0 down, until that goal Tranmere had no chances to go 1-0 up.
“When we have so much possession and momentum it will be nice to go 1-0 up.
“That will ease the pressure on our back four.”
Uwe said the fitness of his players was a key factor in them scoring their late goal.
The Bees have scored late goals to earn points against Colchester United and Walsall already this season and have earned five points from them.
“We have a strong bench and can change games,” said Uwe.
“We also have the belief to go right to the end.
“The other thing is the fitness.
“We can only go to the end and press and press and press and push them back when you have the players to do it and they are fit enough.”
Brentford face two games in four days at Griffin Park in the next week, against Shrewsbury Town and Crawley Town.
Uwe said he would bring in some fresh faces for the game to ensure his team could reach the same standards.
“There are a number of teams that will be fighting for the top six places,” said Uwe.
“We are one of them, no more, no less.
“I said that at the end of last season, I said that at the start of this season and I will say it now.
“We now have two massive home games in front of us.
“We will take each game by game.
“There will be fresh faces on Tuesday.
“You saw today that when we press effectively, like we did today, it is difficult to beat Brentford.
“But when the steam goes out and we don’t do what we have done successfully, we get tested more in our own half and that is when we make mistakes.”
Bees Player subscribers can see a full video interview with Uwe Rösler here.