Dickov: draw a fair result

ATHLETIC striker Dean Kelly slides in to a Rochdale opponent.

ATHLETIC striker Dean Kelly slides in to a Rochdale opponent.
A POINT was a pleasing end product for Athletic manager Paul Dickov after a difficult derby at Spotland.

The visitors warmed up quickly on a frosty playing surface and Cedric Evina produced a clinical finish to open the scoring, much to the delight of the travelling band of over 3,000 fans.

But after being put under huge pressure by Paul Dickov’s side, Rochdale produced a pair of chances out of the blue and scored with the second of them, substitute Matty Done equalising in a derby clash the home team then went on to take control of.

The draw at least preserves Athletic’s good recent run of results and lifts the team into the play-off places in npower League One.

“First half, we were excellent,” said Dickov. “Goals change games and we were on top and playing ever so well.

“We mixed up our game and played some good football, putting good balls in behind and our front four were a threat.

“Then we switched off once and they scored.

“It changed the game. At that point, we were well on top and I couldn’t see them getting back into it.

“In the second half, they came out and changed their game a bit and played percentage football.

“They got the ball forward as quickly as they could and squeezed us a bit. It is hard to play against.

“So a point is a fair result.

“When you are on top in games, that is the time you have to score your goals.

“At any point in any given game, the teams you are playing against will have a sustained period of pressure.

“We know that will happen so when we are on top, we have to make it count.

“You have to give credit to Rochdale.

“They came out in the second half and put us under pressure, which I think we dealt with well.

“We defended excellently. They came at us and tried to get the ball up to Chris O’Grady as quickly as they could.

“They went back to front quickly and we coped with it very well.”

Dickov didn’t try out the playing surface for himself — it was particularly solid in front of the main stand and plenty of players from both sides lost their footing throughout — and was simply pleased to get the game played.

“The boys said that towards the end it was getting a bit hard on top and freezing over,” Dickov said.

“But Rochdale wanted the game on and so did we. We knew that would possibly be the case.

“We have got it done, we have another point and we keep our little unbeaten run going.

“That is five games unbeaten and one defeat in 10 so we are delighted.”

Rochdale had good chances to claim all three points in the second half and felt that Athletic centre-back Jean-Yves Mvoto should have been shown the red-card for his part in a tangle with Bobby Grant. The Frenchman was instead presented with a yellow by referee Tony Bates.

“It was a foul on Jean to start off with,” Dickov contended. “We were screaming at the assistant

referee four or five seconds before it as their player had a hold of Jean’s shirt.

“Some of the decisions made baffled me, they really did.”