Graham Coughlan pulled no punches over Bristol Rovers' vital win over Bradford City.
The Gas were second best for large periods of the first half but went in level at 1-1 thanks to 'Crucial contributions' - Bristol Rovers player ratings following a valuable victory over Bradford City header.
Ollie Clarke's fine strike then gave the Gas the lead - but they sat off and a late Bradford equaliser looked like it would be two valuable points dropped.
However, Clarke-Harris volleyed in deep into added time to secure a 3-2 win that moves Rovers five points clear of the relegation zone with four points to play.
Admitting his side were poor, Coughlan said it's points that matter, not performances, at this stage of the season.
"I thought we were terrible today," he said. "Like I said, I said it last week and I'll say it again, it's not about performances, it's about points.
"There was a lot of tension and a lot of nerves - it came off the terraces, it came off the pitch and onto the terraces - both sets of players were nervy, both sets of fans were nervy. It was such a big game but, at the end of the day, again, we weren't great - in fact, we were poor, but I will take points over performances all day long."
Rovers improved in the second half and Coughlan said that was down to a formation change, but also praised the way his players bounced back from conceding so late on.
He added: "We changed formation. Bradford normally play 4-3-3 but played 4-3-2-1 so they obviously adopted their formation to play us.
"I felt we had enough quality on the pitch, I thought we could have given the fans a Blackpool performance, I was hoping for that during the week, I was hoping for that today, it didn't quite transpire like that.
"We started the game nervy and never got out of that nervousness, we were edgy, we were doing things we don't normally do, and I just felt I needed to change the formation to just get a little bit more of a press on and go up against them.
"I did feel that we were sinking too deep, playing 10 to 15 yards too deep and that comes from nerves. Our midfielders were dropping with the back four and we weren't getting enough pressure or press on the football, so they were dropping into pockets that were causing us problems.
"I just felt a little tweak in the system and the shape would help us but, then again, you are powerless, let's be honest, you're powerless as a manager when your team starts dropping and the opposition is playing five or six forwards late on.
"They were a wounded animal, the team we were playing against had nothing to lose, they just went for it and I trust in my lads. Yes we gave a corner away, we didn't pick up the short corner and didn't quite do our job and our due diligence on the short corner, we're normally very good at it, but, at the end of the day, I'm taking my hat off to that group of lads.
"That group of lads has again gone to the wire, again has put hearts in mouths, again has given me grey hair, but they have absolutely dug deep for this football club yet again. That spirit and that character cannot be bought."
