Darrell Clarke ‘hurting’ after Tranmere concede late in Walsall draw
The manager felt the win was ‘chucked’ away.
Tranmere boss Darrell Clarke was left devastated after Rovers dropped points in injury time for a third occasion this season in a 1-1 home draw with Walsall.
Bobby Faulkner put The Whites in front on 72 minutes, before Reece Smith rescued a point for the visitors at the death.
And Clarke admits his squad were left stung by The Saddlers’ late goal.
He said: “The changing room is hurting and so am I. We’re devastated because we could’ve been coming off to a standing ovation, but we’ve chucked two points away at the end.
“The performance first half was excellent, but if I’m being critical, we have to score more of our opportunities when they come along.
“We shouldn’t concede a goal like that either, and we shouldn’t be in that situation because we should’ve been two or three ahead.
“It’s difficult because we’ve lost six points in injury time, but I’m going to try and keep things positive because we’re potentially seeing a good team.”
Jed Ward was in inspired form for Walsall and produced heroics to deny Joe Ironside from the spot in the first half, but Clarke remained full of praise for his striker.
“Joe was excellent for us,” he added. “He was a rock, and I don’t criticise my players for missing penalties.
“We want to score them, but we don’t want to become victims and we didn’t. We came back and created numerous chances after the miss, but it’s still a disappointing day.
“The fans have been magnificent, and I’m glad they’re enjoying coming to games. But I’m here to get this club out of the division. There’s been a lot of change at the club, and we’ve got to keep building.”
Smith’s late finish ensures Walsall remain unbeaten in League Two this season, but Saddlers boss Lee Grant called on his players to improve on their performances.
He said: “I’m certainly not happy with our levels, but we’ve managed to take a really hard-fought point in front of our travelling fans despite not playing well, so we have to be pleased with that.
“We didn’t win any second balls in the first half, and we lost the physical battle. It’s really hard to hurt teams in this division, and we’ve found that so far.
“Tranmere got success today by booting it up to Ironside and winning every second ball. I say that with the greatest of respects too, because they did it well and we were outfought in those moments.
“We didn’t have as comfortable a time when the ball went up to our number nine, so that was frustrating.”
Despite Grant’s qualms with his side’s display, the 43-year-old spoke of his affection for his players.
“The character of this group is shining through. I said at half-time; I love being around them,” he said.
“I love their character, their energy, and they fight for everything. I wanted to come in at half-time and flip the icebox, but you can’t with this group because you know they’re always working hard for you.”