Walsall midfielder Jack Earing was pleased to score his first EFL goal and open his account for the club against Bradford City on Saturday.
The 22-year-old equalised late in the first half, moments before Joss Labadie was sent off.
Earing was keen to make runs into the box and was delighted that his efforts paid off as he got on the end of Brendan Kiernan’s cross.
“I wanted to let Brendan be 1v1 because I know he is capable of getting at defenders and putting the ball in the box so I just anticipated the ball going into the box and then it was a little left-footed finish to get my first goal so I am really happy with that,” Earing said.
“Being in that position I knew I was going to have chances. It was frustrating for me not to pull the trigger a couple of times before my goal because I know I have a good shot on me.
“The gaffer is always wanting me to arrive in the box, front post, back post or in the middle of the goal to try and pitch a goal and luckily, I did that today.”
The Saddlers picked up a valuable point at the Utilita Energy Stadium after playing over 50 minutes with 10 men.
Earing felt the team deserved to come away with a draw for the commitment and fighting spirit that they showed.
“I thought the lads dug in really deep,” he commented.
“When Labadie got sent off, we knew we had to give 110% all game and the lads dug in for each other and I think the fans could see that today.
“Everyone ran for each other. The gaffer was saying in the changing room that he was proud of us because we ran for the club, we ran for ourselves and we ran for the staff. We knew it was going to be a tough game when we went down to 10 men and I really felt like we deserved the point today.
“Everyone knows that two banks of four is difficult to break down so coming in at half time we knew what we were going to be playing in the second half and how we were going to set up.
“We were forcing them wide and not letting them have any space in the middle and I feel like we protected the back four and Carl (Rushworth) really well with him making a great save at the end to keep us in the game. I felt the lads were terrific today both in and out of possession.”