Blues boss Gary Waddock was a happy man after seeing his new-look Wanderers side hold league leaders Leeds United to a 1-1 draw on Saturday - and was particularly impressed with the way his team put the hosts on the back foot for large spells of the game.

Jon-Paul Pittman's second-half strike cancelled out Jonny Howson's early opener at Elland Road and the Wanderers created a number of chances courtesy of a new 4-3-1-2 formation, which left the Yorkshire club happy not to have lost:

"I'm delighted to come up here and get a point - it was a fantastic effort by every player," Waddock beamed. "It shows character within our group to bounce back from an early goal and they were determined to get back into it; we played good football and deserved a point.

"We changed our formation and everyone expected us to put five across the midfield, but sometimes you have to be bold and we had nothing to lose. We were playing against a very talented Leeds side and it would've been nice to get three points, but I'll take one.

"We've played one or two different formations and I just felt that by going with two up-front and one behind, we could cause them problems. Leeds found it difficult to come to terms with our system and credit to our players for making it work," he added.

The encounter at Elland Road was just one of five Football League fixtures to have survived the weather, and Waddock admitted that he was unsure whether the game should have been played due to the dangerous journey facing the team and their supporters:

"It was a difficult journey to get up here and some of the players couldn't get out of their houses or cul-de-sacs to get to the meeting point. But in the end I'm delighted the game went ahead and we have to say 'thanks' to Leeds for getting the game on."

Wanderers' preparation for the game had been heavily affected with the team unable to train together apart from a session at Derby County's facilities on Friday, and that could have contributed to a slow start from the visitors which enabled Leeds to take the lead:

"It was the worst possible start and we didn't close the ball down quickly enough, but the response from the players was excellent - they didn't let it affect them, they got on with the game and went out to try and get back into it.

"We defended well, we held a good line and caught them offside a few times which I think got them a bit frustrated. As a group, the lads performed extremely well."

After back-to-back heavy defeats to Yeovil and Brighton at the end of December, Wanderers have now responded with two excellent performances against the top two sides in the division, and Waddock feels his side can take heart from that fact as they look to beat the drop:

"There are enough games left and enough points at stake to get out of it, " he said. "To come here, play like that and get a point wasn't the sign of a team struggling at the bottom of the table.

"I'd like to congratulate the whole group and the efforts of the squad. We need to do that from now until the end of the season to get out of trouble."

Coming soon: Waddock praises the 666 Wanderers supporters who made the journey to Elland Road, and Jon-Paul Pittman and John Mousinho reflect on an excellent display in West Yorkshire.