Saturday 8 August 2015 20:23, UK
Brentford boss Marinus Dijkhuizen admitted he thought his side's fight back was going to prove too late to rescue a point at home to Ipswich - but felt they deserved a draw in the end.
Ipswich had looked set for the victory after goals from Kevin Bru and Ryan Fraser saw them leading 2-0 going into the stoppage time, but Brentford staged a dramatic recovery to snatch a 2-2 tie thanks to strikes from substitute Andre Gray and James Tarkowski.
Dutchman Dijkhuizen said he felt The Bees grew into the match the longer it went on, but did not expect to escape his first competitive match at Griffin Park with a point.
He said: "We put a lot of pressure on and took a lot of risks, but we got better and better in the game.
"There were big chances, but we couldn't get a goal. Then finally Andre (Grey) scored.
"You think it's too late with a few minutes left, then we sent everybody forward and we got a goal. We got a bit lucky of course, but we deserved a draw in the end."
Dijkhuizen conceded it was out of his hands whether last season's top scorer Gray would stay at the club or not, and revealed the 24-year-old requested not to start the game.
"I hope he (Gray) stays here. He's a young guy and a rising star," Dijkuizen said.
"Hull want him and are bidding for him. He told me that he was not mentally ready to play because there was a lot going on. I respected that and put him on the bench.
"I don't know what will happen. Sometimes money talks and every player has a price. I hope he doesn't go or we'll have to find another striker, but it's part of the job."
A deflated Mick McCarthy was understandably upset that his team did not hang on to the two-goal lead they took into added time.
The former Republic of Ireland boss bemoaned the Tractor Boys' inability to kill the game off, but said there were also plenty of positives to take from the match.
"It's an annoying one and we should have won," said McCarthy. "We conceded two really poor goals.
"There were chances at both ends and we had the majority of them. We scored two, but should have scored another to put it beyond doubt. If you don't, you don't concede two goals like that.
"I'm really delighted by the way we played, I thought we were terrific. It's a shame that three minutes at the end annoys you like that.
"But I won't let it blight it because, for an away performance, we were excellent. We just can't let that happen again."
