Joey Barton said he was "proud" of his Bristol Rovers players as they "stopped the bleeding" of a four-game losing run with a 0-0 draw against promotion-chasing Ipswich Town at the Mem on Tuesday.
Ipswich dominated possession and had 21 attempts, but Rovers managed the game expertly to limit the Tractor Boys to very few clear-cut chances, and the Gas came closest to a breakthrough when Scott Sinclair's opportunistic effort from close range hit the angle of post and crossbar before being bundled away.
The Gas remain 14th in League One after picking up their first point since the win at Cambridge United January 7, but they head into Saturday's clash with Burton Albion buoyed by a commendable performance and result against fourth-placed Ipswich.
"There were lots of positives to take out of the game in terms of our defensive performance," Barton said. "It was proper, it’s what we’ve been looking for.
"I felt after the game on Saturday (the defeat at Lincoln City), in the midst of that battle being lost and the adversity of stuff going against us, I felt some young saplings really started to emerge and seeing the character in those moments is key.
"Tonight, you’ve seen them grow further. I thought there were some really good performances and it would be unfair of me to single out an individual because it was a real group and team effort. We haven’t won again, but we’ve managed to stop the bleeding against a very good side.
"You can only be proud as a coach of the players. In the adversity, to come into the stadium with what’s going on in terms of the results profile against a promotion-chasing team and to stick to the game plan in the manner they did, I’m so pleased for the group and so pleased for the football club."
With senior players like Sam Finley and Paul Coutts unavailable, Barton has been working with a youthful group in recent games, and he believes the past two games have gone a long way to aiding the development of Jarell Quansah – who won the sponsors' man of the match award – Lamare Bogarde and others.
"To a man today, they were superb, and that includes the lads who came into the game," Barton added. "They kept following their instruction, backing each other up and I thought it was a really good performance, what you would call a proper team performance.
"In the midst of that, I think you saw a few young boys turn into men tonight and that will go a long way to settling them into our football club and we have given them what they have come for, which is a foundation to build a fantastic career off."
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