Darren Moore felt his Port Vale side “could and should have taken maximum points” at Wigan after the sides shared the spoils in a Sky Bet League One 0-0 stalemate.
Wigan’s Martial Godo came closest to breaking the deadlock, only to fire against a post in the second half.
At the other end, Wigan were indebted to England Under-21 goalkeeper Sam Tickle for pulling off, in the words of Moore, “an outstanding double save” to deny James Plant and Baylee Dipepa.
The point lifts Vale out of the relegation zone, and Moore says that will give them a “psychological boost” for their last five games of the campaign.
“It’s a good day for us at Port Vale, getting the clean sheet and how valuable that point is in terms of the psychological boost of getting out of that bottom four,” he said.
“While we’ll take that today, we know the work isn’t nearly finished, it’s only given us a platform.
“And we have to continue to perform, keep that togetherness, and keep that unity going forward.
“As a group we certainly feel we could and should have taken maximum points, but their goalkeeper has pulled off an outstanding double save.
“The first one, he was going the other way, and then he gets up and makes another save.
“Credit to him for earning them a point, but I just thought both teams were at it, both teams were pressing on, and it was a good footballing match.
“We pressed them high up the pitch, and I liked the way we played on them, and forced errors, which we should have capitalised more on.
“Overall it was a solid performance, and you’re always happy with a clean sheet away from home.”
For Wigan boss Shaun Maloney, it was a third game in a row where his side have failed to beat a relegation-threatened side, after a home draw with Burton and a defeat at Cambridge.
“It wasn’t too bad, it was just OK,” he said. “I know it finished 0-0, but both teams had chances.
“The first 20 minutes was OK, but for the next 25 minutes we became a bit toothless really.
“The second half was a bit better, we had chances to score, as did they…the overall performance was just OK.
“In terms of effort and the mentality of the players – something I really challenged the players on – I couldn’t ask for any more.
“Port Vale are desperate for points, and they went very aggressive during parts of the game.
“When that happens, you have to use the forward passes enough, we just didn’t recognise when to play the forward pass.
“I liked the way the three centre-backs (Charlie Hughes, Charlie Goode and Jason Kerr) played, the forwards they have are good players and I never felt in massive, massive danger from open play.
“Sam Tickle has also made an amazing double save, and he’s just a brilliant player.
“I say it every week, but there always seems to be a moment where Sam influences the result, and that was the case again.
“Those four players were the stand-outs for me.”