Baraclough points to positives after home draw

Following his side's 1-1 draw with Bray Wanderers at The Showgrounds, Sligo Rovers manager Ian Baraclough spoke about a game that he feels could have gone very differently.

"It could have been (different), we'd spoken at half-time about making sure the back door was shut. We were getting a lot of possession and at times there's a tendency to switch off and all of a sudden the ball is in the back of the net because they're quick on the counter attack. It was always going to be a threat, Jason Byrne can hold the ball up, players can get in support of him and I felt we were just a little bit open when we lost the ball throughout the day."

Had Danny North met a glorious ball across the face of goal from Pascal Millien, the home side could've snatched a late victory, but Baraclough is pleased that those chances are at least being created.

"I thought we had a fair few chances today, balls were flashing across the face of the box but I'm not going to have a go at Danny North or any of the players because you've also got to be in there to miss them. It could have gone a different way for sure and if we weren't creating the chances like that I'd be a little worried but we are creating chances, we have players who can put it in the back of the net and we move on to the next game."

Baraclough was quick to play down the early talk of a potential League title for the current leaders.

"I always look for positives and I think there was a lot of good things that happened out there today. Yes, we have dropped two points at home which isn't great but there's going to be more twists and turns, it's not just a foregone conclusion and we're only half way through the season. There's plenty of people talking about League titles and what not but lets not get carried away with ourselves, there's probably six or seven teams that could still go and win this League, you've got to earn every point that comes your way. Home fans are going to expecting you to go and roll over fans, but it doesn't happen."

One boost ahead of next week's trip to Derry City could be the return of Jason McGuinness following a recent hamstring injury in the EA Sports Cup.

"I think he'll be fit for that, he did some running before the game, he feels a lot easier with that so if he gets a good weeks training in there's a good chance he'll be involved in the squad."