My lads are picking up cautions for innocuous things

Last updated : 24 November 2008 By Tony Scholes
O'Driscoll saw his side take a point that has lifted them off the bottom of the league and he said: "We started really well and then we got a bit anxious because we wanted to come here and try and control possession and I thought that at times we tried to play in the wrong areas. But at the same time I'm pleased.

"Burnley are the form team in the league and I thought that we came without any nerves and tried to play. We took our chances when we could and created one or two opportunities with our possession.

"The sending off, as always, usually changes game. They had their game plan set out to defend their run and it is always easier in that situation, where if they have had a man sent off, we have won a penalty and scored its 1-0, but when it is still 0-0 they are a well organised and balanced side and their game plan was set out to nick a point or grab three.

"We've been guilty of letting teams with ten men beat us in the past, but I didn't think we committed those things again. We were strong at set plays and we didn't lose our shape or our discipline and created one or two opportunities and perhaps one where you would think 'that's a goal', opportunities where you would think on another day or another season, we may have scored.

"However, the frustrations everybody was feeling don't get to the players and I thought they kept their shape and discipline which, against a side like Burnley, was paramount."

Owen Coyle was far from happy, and his anger was aimed at referee Steve Bennett. "I can't see why Steven Thompson was sent off," Coyle remonstrated after the game. "I don't think he actually caught the lad, I have to say that.

"I don't like talking about referees because we want to talk about football, but I have to say the player that was fouled shouldn't have been on the park at that stage. He had the worst tackle of the day on Chris Eagles and the referee gave us a free kick, pulled the lad over and didn't book him.

"For me that was the worst tackle in the game and then, after he gets booked in a tangle with Thompson, the boy would have been on a second yellow. That's not to say Steven wasn't rash in jumping into the last challenge, but the referee is there, regardless of his status, to referee the game to the best of his abilities.

"Mr Bennett will feel he has done that. I just took issue with the fact that I felt their lad should have been off the pitch at the time. I don't want players picking up yellow and red cards, but it seems that every other week my lads are picking up cautions for innocuous things while other things go unpunished."

Speaking about the game and the performance he added: "On another day we might have had three points, but in the end, on the balance of play the point was well earned. It was a difficult afternoon and I don't think we got to the levels we have recently.

"I stressed to the players all week how difficult a game it would be because I believe Doncaster to be a better side than their league position suggests. However, I can't fault the effort and application of the lads. They have knuckled down and got us a clean sheet, so all credit to them.

"Playing a man short for an hour takes a lot out of the players and we have a game on Monday. That gives them little time to recover, so it is important that we recover well."