Elphick: the league doesn't lie

Tommy Elphick was delighted to play a part in the draw against Middlesbrough and thought that a point was more than deserved with his team's performance. The returning captain played for 90 minutes and he coped with the often changing formation that was triggered by the way the game panned out.

"You've got to be happy when you come to places like this and come away with a draw," he said when speaking to BBC Radio Solent. "Obviously as a defender you would like to come off the pitch nil-nil, but that wasn't , meant to be.  It is a little bit difficult to take when you are two-nil up and they come back and level it, but after you go three-two down it shows great character to keep plugging away and keep sticking to our principles and to get a point out of the game.

"Two nil is a score line that is underestimated. It's a dangerous scoreline. You see a lot of teams go two-nil up, especially early and they gets back into the game, the other team so when you're in front like that you have to sort of.. well we lacked a bit of nous. It was probably time to go a bit longer and try and get them on the back foot rather than us draw pressure in you know. It's something to learn from. But today there are a lot of positives to come out of the game."

Tommy remarked that Elliott Ward showed his coolness to get the equaliser. "It showed we've got goals all over the pitch," he said. "And that's another positive."

When asked about if the team feel that they now belong in the league with results like this Elphick responded: "I think you've got to think that. The table isn't lying. We are where we are for a reason. I know it's early doors and  the league won't really take shape until Christmas time, but we are there and  the longer we can stay in there the better."