Athletic put in a much better performance at home to Port Vale on Tuesday night. They had to settle for a 1-1 draw but with better luck could have, and should have, come away from the match with maximum points. Pope put the visitors ahead early in the game but a stirring second half come-back brought a brilliantly headed equaliser from James Wilson and with a bit more luck, and without the excellent saves by the Vale keeper, could have turned the game into a victory.
Lee Johnson admitted, “We won the game today, in my opinion – but drew on the scoreboard. I was really pleased with the lads; they showed good effort. It wasn't easy, coming up against a team that was flying. Our crowd turned on us for a little spell - they have to realise that at the moment with the way things are, we are an underdog in most games. We need that underdog spirit and when the crowd is whipped up here it is a great place to play in. But I was pleased with the character. We bossed the game from start to finish. I am disappointed, obviously, not to get the three points, but pleased with the performance. Keep playing like that and we will shoot up the league. Our back four looked much more solid, which was good as we had to cram in a lot of work on that. They had been coming in for quite a bit of stick from me. People will write us off already in the next couple of fixtures but we know that playing like that, we will go and get results.”