New Wanderers boss Gary Waddock told the press that he was delighted with his side's character in the 1-1 draw with rivals Colchester United and is looking forward to the task of moving the club away from the foot of the table.
Watch the press conference
The former Aldershot manager saw his new side fight back from a first-half deficit after Kayode Odejayi had capitalised on a mistake from Scott Shearer to open the scoring, but Jon-Paul Pittman's late leveller capped an encouraging afternoon in Waddock's eyes:
"Today is only the start - we can build on something now," he said. "We know how important the game was against Colchester and there's a big rivalry because of what's gone on in the past, and if we hadn't got anything from the game I don't think that would have been fair.
"We may be bottom of the league now but there are enough games and points to play for, and if they show the same levels of commitment we will pick up points and move forward," he added.
Putting the rivalry to one side, Saturday's encounter represented a tough test for the luckless Wanderers against a side chasing promotion and unbeaten since Aidy Boothroyd took over as manager, but the Blues nullified the gulf in league positions to pick up a deserved point:
"There wasn't a lot in the game," said Waddock. "They're riding high in the division and the goal we conceded was a mistake, but every player makes mistakes so I haven't got a problem with that. The way the players responded in the second half was a credit to them.
"There are always opportunities to get back into the game and you never give up until the final whistle. We could have folded after going 1-0 down in the manner that we did but they showed great character," he enthused.
And Waddock's final word was reserved for the Adams Park faithful who offered their full support to his side from the first whistle to the last, contributing to a fantastic atmosphere particularly when Pittman fired the late equaliser:
"I thought the fans were excellent," he said. "They got right behind the team, they gave us a big lift and we're going to need that."
Coming soon: Jon-Paul Pittman describes his goal and Paul Dennis supplies the best photos from the 1-1 draw.
