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After his players had staged an unlikely comeback Whites manager Phil Parkinson was happy to give credit where it was due on Saturday.
And that credit extended beyond those on the pitch to the near-2,500 supporters who had crossed the Pennines to cheer their side on at Bradford.
With their team two goals in arrears it would have been easy for the fans – who have suffered so much in recent years – to turn on their team.
But the Wanderers backing was rewarded as they fought back for a point that seemed a world away when Charlie Wyke scored the hosts’ second goal. And Parkinson was visibly delighted at the togetherness shown by those crammed into the away end of his former stomping ground.
“The players responded, they were great,” Parkinson told the club’s official YouTube channel.
“It was a big test for us to come back from two goals down – it’s not often we’ve been two goals down this season but we looked for a response and the players really rose to the challenge. But the supporters responded really well for us, they didn’t get on the players’ backs at all, they stayed right behind the team and we deservedly got back in it, and could have won it in the end. We had magnificent support and I do thank them for that, they were great for us, even at 2-0 down they stayed right behind the lads and it was fantastic to hear.”
Parkinson was also full of praise for three men who formed the spine of the team, David Wheater, Josh Vela and Gary Madine. While Vela helped make light of Jay Spearing’s enforced absence and Madine scored a fine equaliser it was Wheater who led from the back and got the comeback under way with the first goal just after the hour mark.
“He was absolutely immense,” said the manager. “He was a man-mountain in the second half and you need your big players to perform in big games – David has certainly done that for us.
“There was some real character shown by us in that second half, the two lads who came off the bench [James Henry and Viv Solomon-Otabor] had a real impact, they gave us a bit of freshness and a bit of energy, a bit of quality as well. I was delighted with the way all the lads played in the second period.”
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And that credit extended beyond those on the pitch to the near-2,500 supporters who had crossed the Pennines to cheer their side on at Bradford.
With their team two goals in arrears it would have been easy for the fans – who have suffered so much in recent years – to turn on their team.
But the Wanderers backing was rewarded as they fought back for a point that seemed a world away when Charlie Wyke scored the hosts’ second goal. And Parkinson was visibly delighted at the togetherness shown by those crammed into the away end of his former stomping ground.
“The players responded, they were great,” Parkinson told the club’s official YouTube channel.
“It was a big test for us to come back from two goals down – it’s not often we’ve been two goals down this season but we looked for a response and the players really rose to the challenge. But the supporters responded really well for us, they didn’t get on the players’ backs at all, they stayed right behind the team and we deservedly got back in it, and could have won it in the end. We had magnificent support and I do thank them for that, they were great for us, even at 2-0 down they stayed right behind the lads and it was fantastic to hear.”
Parkinson was also full of praise for three men who formed the spine of the team, David Wheater, Josh Vela and Gary Madine. While Vela helped make light of Jay Spearing’s enforced absence and Madine scored a fine equaliser it was Wheater who led from the back and got the comeback under way with the first goal just after the hour mark.
“He was absolutely immense,” said the manager. “He was a man-mountain in the second half and you need your big players to perform in big games – David has certainly done that for us.
“There was some real character shown by us in that second half, the two lads who came off the bench [James Henry and Viv Solomon-Otabor] had a real impact, they gave us a bit of freshness and a bit of energy, a bit of quality as well. I was delighted with the way all the lads played in the second period.”
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