Bristol City boss Lee Johnson hailed his side’s character and resilience after they clawed their way back from the brink to earn a precious point at Brentford.
Andreas Weimann’s late goal made it three draws in a row and nine games unbeaten for the Robins in the Championship.
And Johnson said: “When you’re one down at a place like this and you keep going to the end, then it’s a great point from a really tough game.
“When you come here you have to accept that you will have less possession but you will get three or four big chances and we took ours at the death.”
He said his side’s sluggish first half was down to a lack of aggression on and off the ball, and added: “They are good side buoyed by a win at Barnsley and we knew it would be tough.
“We didn’t start aggressively enough in terms of our press and we were underloaded at times, so at half-time we tried a tactical change in midfield to try to get a foothold.”
It worked late on when Weimann popped up in the 87th minute to head Jack Hunt’s cross back across keeper David Raya for the late leveller that cancelled out Josh Dasilva’s superb curled opener.
Johnson said: “Although Brentford were busy, bright and clever in their movement, the middle of our goal didn’t feel like it was being affected, but it’s important that we remember that Brentford have quality throughout their team.
“But we’ve showed fantastic character in two games away from home so now it’s really important we put in a sterling performance at home to Reading and build on it.”
Johnson revealed he is still mulling over a move for a free transfer centre forward before adding: “We will have to see how it goes”.
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said the performance was proof that his side are “on the right track”.
“I’m pleased with the overall performance but disappointed with the result,” he said. “We looked extremely solid defensively and gave nothing away except for two situations.
“We were a lot more dynamic today, especially in the second half, but there is a reason Bristol City are solid and get points away from home.”
Frank rued his side’s inability to put the game to bed with a second goal as they were repeatedly foiled by former Brentford keeper Daniel Bentley.
He said: “We should have closed the game down but this performance was much closer to what we know we can do. We moved the ball so well and so quickly and I think that when we combine that with momentum we will open up teams even more.”
Frank said he “would never know” whether a late switch to three at the back played its part in the goal, but added: “Prior to the goal and after the change which we made to snuff out the crosses we knew would come, they didn’t trouble us until they had that one action.
“I’m happy though because this game shows we are on the right track. Now we need to go on an unbeaten run with more wins than draws and we’ll do that.
“Today we had players scoring six, sevens and eights (out of 10) – the next step is to get them up to eights and nines.”
