Chris Powell praises Joe Lolley after Huddersfield hold Birmingham
Sunday 15 March 2015 21:08, UK
Huddersfield manager Chris Powell was full of praise for newcomer Joe Lolley after his crucial goal ensured a 1-1 draw at Birmingham.
Lolley, a product of Birmingham's academy, derived a great deal of pleasure scoring a vital goal against his old club on only his third start, which cancelled out David Cotterill's early opener.
Powell said: "Joe is a real natural talent but I would like to see the day he can last 90 minutes. His rise to a Championship footballer is quite amazing.
"He is an ex-university boy who was playing for Kidderminster. After 16 games he gets a big move to a Championship side.
"We are just trying to cajole him. We are trying to get that talent shown regularly on the pitch. Perhaps his nervous energy hinders his progress.
"But he took his goal well and hopefully we have a real talent as there is certainly something there in his play."
After three successive defeats during which time they conceded nine goals, Huddersfield produced a much better performance after going a goal down to Cotterill's close range strike after 10 minutes.
Lolley, a major threat in the first half, deservedly equalised and the result left Powell a relatively happy manager.
Powell admitted: "I haven't smiled for a while but this was a very good response from my players. We have had a horrendous week after three defeats but we set the tone from the first minute.
"We undeservedly went a goal down as we took the game to the home side. We have put that bad week behind us and we just have think about the remaining 10 games. It is going to be a mini-season and the point was important to us.
"We had opportunities to score although the second half was ebb and flow, I have to be relatively happy with the draw. It is something for us to build on."
Birmingham were off-key in several parts of the game despite a driving performance from Paul Caddis.
It was the Birmingham skipper who created the opener for Cotterill to turn back to avoid a tackle from Jack Robinson and then fire in a low shot into the far corner of the net.
Birmingham, who failed to record their third successive home win, surprisingly failed to capitalise upon their lead.
Manager Gary Rowett said: "You could see that Huddersfield were very keen to block the game and work incredibly hard to stop us playing after losing three games on the spin.
"That was evident and it is testament as teams make it difficult for us to play our normal game.
"We moved the ball too slowly and that was the frustration. We scored a well worked goal and it was great to see David Cotterill on the goal sheet after five games without scoring.
"Then we concede from a long throw-in that bounces in the six-yard box. We have two chances to clear and they end up equalising. That was frustrating for me.
"Later we had moments when we should have done better.
"It was a battling performance when we didn't quite reach the heights of previous games. It is another game undefeated. It is another point so again we are not going to be too greedy.
"We have only lost five in 23 league games and we have to be pleased with that record."
