Cambridge United 4-4 Blackpool: Garry Monk left with ‘real mixed emotions’ after frantic eight-goal Sky Bet League One clash at the Cledara Abbey Stadium
Head coach Garry Monk was left with ‘real mixed emotions’ after watching his Cambridge United side’s frantic 4-4 draw with Blackpool at the Cledara Abbey Stadium this afternoon.
On the one hand Monk was pleased with the ‘huge character’ that his players showed to battle back from being 4-1 down to salvage a share of the spoils – and collect their first point of the new Sky Bet League One season in the process.
However, he was bitterly disappointed with the manner in which Blackpool scored all four of their goals – two carbon copies from corners and two more from one-on-one situations.
Monk said: “It’s real mixed emotions. I’m angry and happy – it’s quite a strange feeling.
“The bottom line is the goals we’ve conceded today – we’ve prepped all week and highlighted the set-piece side of it that they’re really strong. All four goals were poor, avoidable. You can’t concede goals like that and expect to win games.
“On the flip side of that, the one thing you can show in those moments is how strong your character is. Now, I know there’s good character and I believe there’s good players in there and a good team, but it’s easy for me to say that – you’ve got to go and prove it on the pitch. It’s interesting to see what happens and that’s exactly what they did.
“We could have easily given up in that moment, being 4-1 down, but we showed huge character and deservedly got ourselves back in the game.
“That’s the positive side, but there’s some negatives. We can’t concede goals like that but what you can do in those really tough moments – and you probably won’t get a tougher moment than that – is how strong is your belief in yourself and each other to come back? They showed that in abundance.
“You can see that by the way they came off the pitch – they were knackered. They’ve given everything and that’s what you want from your team.”