Dowie praises performance

Last updated : 16 December 2003 By Dave Moore

Iain Dowie, the Latics boss brushed aside speculation that he was joining Crystal Palace and heaped praise on his players after the loss at Colchester. Dowie said, “It is nice that players from the opposing team said we deserved to win the game but we didn’t get the points at the end of the day. The boys can hold up their heads because, technically, our play was bright and we should have won. I am hoping we will get the rub of the green sooner rather than later. It is no use feeling sorry for ourselves, there is no point moping about. We have to crack on, be tough and strong and keep our chins up because we have a big game against QPR on Saturday.”

“The Colchester ’keeper Simon Brown made two wonder saves in the first half and then in the second he denied Will Haining, Scott Vernon and Ernie Cooksey. How many chances did they have other than their two goals? You can’t legislate for their ’keeper’s form. Maybe we should have kept a clean sheet and won the game 1-0. Our back four played well and defended well against some very good players, including Wayne Andrews. Michael Clegg and Adam Griffin were very good in the full-back positions, while Will Haining and Danny Hall did very well in the middle of defence. There were some strange decisions, but I am not blaming the referee. We should have done better. Our front players weren’t as bright as they could have been. Jermaine Johnson did a lot of great things but his final ball was disappointing.”