Middlesbrough boss Jonathan Woodgate revealed his delight with the way his side played at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night.
Boro, without an away win all season found themselves a goal behind in the second half when Ryan Yates headed the hosts in front just after the hour, and were heading for a sixth defeat until Paddy McNair equalised with a penalty nine minutes from time to earn a valuable point and frustrate the hosts, who dropped more City Ground points.
"I am really pleased, I thought it was a well-deserved point," said Woodgate.
"We had our shape set, I thought we were very good, they're a good team, they're up in the play-off positions, but with all the young players that we've got in the squad at the minute I thought we did very well.
"Coulson, Tavernier, Fry, Spence and Walker - they all stood up and did well."
Sabri Lamouchi’s Forest were dominant in the first half without really forcing visiting goalkeeper Aynsley Pears into too much work, but took the lead when the returning Yates powered in header from Matty Cash's accurate cross.
Boro were better in the second half, after tightening up at the break, and Woodgate believes it’s those changes that enabled his team to get a foothold in the game, and level up after Jack Robinson's rash tackle.
"In the first half their full-backs were bombing on and had real threat, but we changed things around and the second half was much better.
"Everyone is a genius after games. When you have to make decisions you can win or lose by these decisions. But we got our decisions right here.
“We pushed higher in the second half, to stop their full backs.
"We have come back from behind a few times this season, away from home in particular.
“This is a good point, against a good team with some top players.
“They have a good bench as well.
"Paddy (McNair) has that quality, doesn't he? I was always confident he (McNair) would score."
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