Steve Bruce
We started off well but I think what people saw were two anxious and nervous teams fighting for their lives. I think the occasion and magnitude of the situation stifled what sort of game of football it could have been.
It was very tense but who knows it might be the point that keeps us up, but we are close that is sure. It might have been different had we taken our chances when we were at our best in the first twenty minutes, but I think a draw was a fair result.
Emile [Heskey] did well to start after the knocks he had last week and I think that took some of the edge of us as well. There are five other teams who need to win and it is still in our hands and we will concentrate on Aston Villa and hopefully we will get a point.
The league table is as you were with two games to play but we can finally but the situation to bed if the teams below us don't win.
He [Mario Melchiot] has had a scan and I think that he is out for the final two games. He has a small abductor tear and he hurt himself out there on the pitch. I cannot see him playing the remainder of the season.
Steve Coppell
Away from home, you just look at trying to keep it ticking along. We were stuck on 22 points for quite some time earlier this season, and we were stuck on 32 points for a long time too. So I'm just glad to be off 32!
Once we'd got the initial 15 minutes out of the way, I felt we were getting more and more on top.
We had a few things flashing across the goal, but maybe a little bit of a lack of belief at the moment - because we haven't been scoring goals. In different circumstances we may have thrown more men forward, and had a little bit more quality on the ball.
But it's a difficult place to come to - the pitch was a little bit spongy and it's very hard to pass the ball around consistently.
League TableLatest match Saturday,
26th April 2008Pld Home Away Overall Pts GD W D L F A W D L F A W D L F A 1 Manchester United 36 16 1 1 43 6 9 5 4 31 15 25 6 5 74 21 81 +53 2 Chelsea 36 12 6 0 35 12 12 3 3 27 13 24 9 3 62 25 81 +37 3 Arsenal 35 13 5 0 36 11 8 6 3 30 18 21 11 3 66 29 74 +37 4 Liverpool 36 11 6 1 42 13 8 7 3 22 15 19 13 4 64 28 70 +36 5 Everton 35 10 3 4 29 14 8 4 6 21 15 18 7 10 50 29 61 +21 6 Aston Villa 35 10 3 5 34 20 6 7 4 33 25 16 10 9 67 45 58 +22 7 Portsmouth 35 7 8 2 24 12 9 1 8 24 24 16 9 10 48 36 57 +12 8 Manchester City 36 11 4 4 28 20 4 6 7 16 24 15 10 11 44 44 55 0 9 Blackburn Rovers 35 7 7 4 23 18 6 6 5 22 25 13 13 9 45 43 52 +2 10 West Ham United 36 7 6 5 22 22 6 3 9 17 22 13 9 14 39 44 48 -5 11 Tottenham Hotspur 36 8 5 5 46 32 2 8 8 19 27 10 13 13 65 59 43 +6 12 Newcastle United 36 8 5 5 25 24 3 5 10 19 36 11 10 15 44 60 43 -16 13 Sunderland 36 9 3 6 23 20 2 3 13 13 36 11 6 19 36 56 39 -20 14 Wigan Athletic 36 8 5 5 21 15 1 5 12 11 34 9 10 17 32 49 37 -17 15 Middlesbrough 36 5 5 7 17 22 3 7 9 16 30 8 12 16 33 52 36 -19 16 Bolton Wanderers 36 6 5 7 21 18 2 4 12 12 35 8 9 19 33 53 33 -20 17 Reading 36 8 2 8 19 24 1 4 13 18 41 9 6 21 37 65 33 -28 18 Birmingham City 36 5 8 5 26 22 2 3 13 16 37 7 11 18 42 59 32 -17 19 Fulham 36 4 5 9 20 31 2 7 9 15 29 6 12 18 35 60 30 -25 20 [R] Derby County 35 1 5 11 10 33 0 3 15 7 43 1 8 26 17 76 11 -59
Next Game
Next up for the Latics is the visit to Villa Park next weekend as the Bruce's men search for safety with a victory over Aston Villa.
|
