IAN Evatt hailed Pool’s best defensive effort and best away performance for some time, and he felt it warranted victory at Bristol City.
The centre-half returned to the starting line-up at Bristol City after missing the previous two games.
His inclusion saw Alex Baptiste move to right-back in a very solid-looking back-line.
And after going a goal behind so late on, Evatt was delighted to come away with a point.
He said: “We showed good character to come back, especially going behind when we did.
“We could have sulked and gone into our shells but we didn’t. We carried on, so there are a lot of positives to take out of the game.
“I think it was a very, very good away performance. I think it’s the best we’ve played away from home for a long time. We were very solid. They didn’t look like scoring and we had chance after chance.
“The referee gave them a dodgy penalty from nowhere and it would have been a travesty had we lost.”
From where Evatt was standing, the penalty decision which went City’s way was wrong.
He said: “The guy just booted it out of play. He and Gilo (Pool keeper Matt Gilks) came together but it wasn’t a foul.
“The referee at first said no, then all of a sudden gave them a pen.
“For our penalty, that was one of the best saves I’ve seen from their centre-half! It was incredible the ref wasn’t going to give it – it took the linesman to give it.”
Five yellow cards saw Evatt miss the win at Sheffield Wednesday before he was left out for the draw against Bolton.
So the 30-year-old was delighted to be back in the starting line-up. “It was nice to get the nod, but I think the gaffer is keen on picking people who work hard in training,” he said.
“I think I trained really well last week, I’ve had my head down and worked hard.
“That’s going to be the case now – no-one is safe in this team and everyone’s fighting for their place.
“They weren’t going to score on Saturday, except from a penalty. It was a good performance from us.
“We worked very hard on defending last week and I think it showed.
“It wouldn’t have flattered us to have come away with a three or four-goal win.
“We’ve just got to concentrate on working hard and keeping clean sheets.
“I know we didn’t keep one on Saturday but we defended very, very well. I’d say it’s the best we’ve defended in a while.”
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