Waddock: 'Derby draw shows what we're about'

Apr 9 2011 By Greg Burns

Gary Waddock

GARY Waddock had nothing but praise for his battling Wanderers side after a second-half comeback earned Wycombe a precious derby point at Oxford.

The Blues boss was delighted with the spirit and determination shown by his players in the 2-2 draw at Oxford United.

They had looked dead and buried after going 2-0 down just after the interval and would have been forgiven for struggling after a turbulent week saw assistant boss Martin Kuhl suspended by the club for an alleged team-bus spat on the way home from Hereford on Tuesday night.

Waddock would not be drawn on the fate of his number two but was happy with what he saw from his side as they battled back for a draw.

He said: "The club have made a statement (about Kuhl) and I just want to talk about today's game. It was good value for money as a game and I thought it was an outstanding football match.

"To be 2-0 down here and to come back and get something is fantastic. The whole group were here today and we brought them all with us.

"We are together and the credit goes to the players who played, the lads on the bench and those in the stands. They deserve all the credit.

"They never gave up and they were never going to and this is a massive point. The players showed individually and as a group that there is a lot of strength within the group.

"They have showed a lot of quality throughout the season and showed a lot of quality in this game too. We have showed what we're about."

Waddock was forced into bringing Jon-Paul Pittman on before the break to replace the injured Stuart Beavon and his decision to replace right-back Marvin McCoy with midfield playmarker Scott Donnelly turned the game.

The Swansea loanee showed the form Blues fans have known he is capable of as Scott Rendell and Pittman scored the goals to secure a point.

Waddock said: "We changed it during the second-half and it caused them problems and we were good value for a point.

"We started well and looked composed before Oxford got to grips with it and caused us problems. The change (Donnelly on) was the turning point.

"JP was excellent. He has to wait and wait and wait for his chance and did he take it? Did he. We know what JP is about. He has frightening pace and he is a very good finisher."

More than 1,700 Blues fans packed into the Kassam Stadium for the derby game and Waddock took time to march over and salute them at the final whistle.

He said: "The fans were absolutely fantastic and I would like to thank them. They were brilliant. Even when we were down they showed that they were right behind the team.

"They knew the players hadn't given up and look what happened. I wanted the players to go over and I wanted to go and thank them. Did they thank me? Yeah they did and it meant a lot."

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