"There is a lot to do but we have salvaged something which looked impossible at half-time. The good thing for us was that we were only two goals behind because three would have put us out of it."
Steve McClaren wore the look of a manager who knew his side had been slightly fortunate to escape with a point from an exciting local derby against Leicester City, in which the visitors were gifted first-half two goals, but was pleased with the character shown by his side.
"We would like to forget the first half but things improved in the second and we built some momentum that led to the penalty.
"When you are building a new team, as we are, inconsistency is a problem but the fighting qualities we showed will be the foundation on which we build. We have to maintain that and improve the quality."
Opposite number Sven Goran Eriksson bemoaned a 'soft' penalty which let the Reds back into the game but thought that his men had been 'much the better team for well over an hour'.