Nigel Pearson revealed that he had asked for the artificial crowd noise at Ashton Gate to be turned off during the first half of Bristol City's Championship stalemate against Nottingham Forest.
Both sides hit a post with first half shots, Alex Mighten for Forest on 27 minutes and Henri Lansbury 15 minutes later for the hosts.
Former City player Luke Freeman almost won it for the visitors as a substitute in stoppage time with a fierce volley that flew inches over.
But the home side had seen a loud penalty appeal rejected when Antoine Semenyo went down inside the box on 75 minutes.
Ultimately, neither team could find the breakthrough with Forest boss Chris Hughton frustrated by his team failing to capitalise on good positions.
“It was getting on my nerves and I wanted to hear my lads encouraging each other on the pitch,” said the City manager after his side had ended a club record run of seven successive home defeats.
“They did it well and there was a togetherness about the performance, which was really important after the display in our last game.”
Pearson added: “I suppose relief is the right word because you can’t argue with statistics.
“We have found it tough dealing with the pressure of the poor home run, but today I thought the team showed a real togetherness.
“There was more control to our play in the second half, but we are not kidding ourselves. It was a small step in the right direction.
“I don’t want to go down the road of complaining about the penalty that wasn’t given, even though it looked a good shout.
“The important thing was to see the players working hard for one another. Han Noah Massengo was excellent in that respect and Henri Lansbury showed his experience alongside him.
“Sam Pearson did well on his first start. It was by no means a classic performance and you can’t hide from scoring only one goal in eight home games.
“But it was a move in the right direction. There is a lot more hard work ahead to get to where we want to be.
“My contract is only until May, but I am working the same as if it were for longer, which may prove the case.
“There are a lot of things to sort out, whoever is in charge next season.”
