Huddersfield boss Danny Cowley praised young goalkeeper Kamil Grabara for his “real maturity” after his howler against Millwall ensured the Terriers remain winless in the SkyBet Championship this season.
Hometown boy Fraizer Campbell had given Huddersfield a 24th-minute lead with his first goal since a free transfer move from Hull in the summer.
But 17 minutes later, and just seconds after making a world-class save in tipping over the crossbar a swirling 30-yard strike from Ryan Leonard, the 20-year-old loan stopper from Liverpool dropped a corner that allowed Matt Smith to poach the equaliser.
Despite that Cowley said: “Kamil had a difficult first half, and typical of the life of a young goalkeeper, he makes a brilliant save and then he makes a mistake.
“But I was proud of him in the second half. The boys got around him at half-time and I said to him that we know he has the attributes to be a top goalkeeper.
“The psychology of a young goalkeeper is how you react after making a mistake, and in the second half he carried himself with real maturity and his distribution was significantly better.
“He’s got real substance about him and we saw that in the second half. I’m massively proud of him and the way he conducted himself in the second half.”
Cowley was also proud of his team overall following the interval after declaring they “did not play with enough bravery” in the opening 45 minutes.
“We could easily have gone under after conceding the goal,” added Cowley, whose side are at least off the foot of the table with the point.
“If we’d carried on playing the way we did in the first half then we would have lost the game and not been able to have lived with ourselves, but we played with fortitude and I’m really proud of them in that second half.”
After turning away two second-half penalty appeals from the home side, referee Jeremy Simpson was forced to reduce Millwall to 10 men in the 80th minute, with Shane Ferguson given his marching orders for two fouls on 57th-minute substitute Adama Diakhaby – the second half a yard outside the area.
Lions boss Neil Harris had no qualms with the challenges made by Ferguson that led to his dismissal.
“They were two fouls I thought he had to make, and rightly or wrongly that’s helped us get a point,” said Harris, whose side are now without a win in six in the league, and 10 on the road since March.
“We’ve not won a game we quite fancied winning,” added Harris.
“The positive is that we’ve got a point, although I’m fully aware we’ve not won again and the critics will throw that at my team.
“But the reality is really setting in that every point we gain this year we’re going to have to earn, I’ve said that to my players.
“So it’s a point gained and we will build on that momentum for the trip to Luton on Wednesday night.”
