GARY Rowett was proud of the ‘really determined performance’ his Oxford United players put in to claim a draw at Sky Bet Championship play-off hopefuls Norwich City.
The U’s had to come from behind after conceding with only five minutes on the clock when Josh Sargent finished from close range following a right wing cross.
United found a leveller though just 13 minutes later, when a long throw-in from Will Vaulks caused problems in the Canaries penalty area, and Mark Harris was in the right place at the right time to scramble home from a couple of yards out.
The U’s then had to demonstrate masses of grit and togetherness, particularly in the closing stages, with Jamie Cumming superbly denying Borja Sainz with an outstretched leg in the 90th minute.
United head coach Rowett said: “I think it’s a tough place to come, particularly going a goal down early on in the game, to then bounce back and actually have some good moments.
“I don’t think they had too many clear-cut chances. There were a lot of efforts from outside the box that were blocked, but I thought we defended with incredible diligence and concentration.
“There were a couple of mistakes where we switched off, and at the end, we needed Jamie to make a great save.
“It would’ve been so disappointing to lose it at the end, but I thought it [a draw] was what we deserved.
“There were some good moments in transition as well and some good moments when we pressed. They’re a hard team to press because they just play round you, but I thought it was a really determined performance from the players.”
The Canaries handed a debut to 21-year-old third choice goalkeeper Vicente Reyes after injury ruled out both Angus Gunn and George Long.
Rowett said the U’s sought to take advantage of that situation by getting balls into the penalty area and utilising the long throw-in of midfielder Vaulks.
“There was definitely an intention from us to load the box at times and put long throws in, and when a young player plays in the team, sometimes you’ve got to try and put them under pressure,” said Rowett.
“It’s a big night in front of the TV cameras and I thought that a couple of times, we loaded the box and caused a lot of uncertainty with Vaulks’ long throw.
“We’ve got to use every tool that we’ve got to try and win games, and we’re certainly not ashamed to do that.”