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GARY Megson believes his side deserved to take three points off European hopefuls Manchester City.

Although still lacking a cutting edge, Wanderers dominated large periods of the derby clash and created a total of 18 efforts on goal.

Gretar Steinsson hit the bar with a thundering header in the early exchanges while striker Kevin Davies saw his header cleared off the line in the final minute.

It was tough on Wanderers, who showed they have rediscovered the fighting spirit that will stand them in such good stead for a daunting run-in.

"In terms of the game, I think that was two points lost when you consider the chances we had and the amount of opportunities we had to create more chances," said Megson.

"We hit the woodwork, had a couple cleared off the line and territorially we had more of an advantage so it is two points lost in terms of that. But it is one point gained on the teams directly above and below us in the table."

Wanderers were anything but clinical after carving out so many chances, and Megson believes that the severity of the situation which Wanderers find themselves in is contributing to a lack of ruthlessness.

"On two or three occasions we were rushing," said Megson. "We were working hard to get in the final third, but we didn't put our foot on it. We were not probing enough, creating enough and because of that we snatched at a few shots.

"That is probably understandable when you consider the tension that the situation creates.

"It's obvious we are not scoring enough goals, and it is obvious that there is some tension around the football club and therefore some frustration."

Megson was also quick to defend his side's style of play, which is once more being dubbed as over-physical by a media that failed to notice that City committed more fouls than their hosts during the game.

"We competed when we didn't have the ball, we got the ball forward and we tried to create," said Megson.

"I don't accept that we are too physical. The situation we are in demands that we compete. Football is competitive and we competed properly. At times, we did commit fouls but there was no intent and certainly nothing malicious in them.

"This club has played the same way for a long time. There are different formations but the bodies are the same. We have issues about certain formations that we gain on swings but lose on roundabouts.

"We are not in this position for no reason. This has been going on for a while now, but now is not the time to discuss the whys and wherefores. Now is the time to roll our sleeves up and try and get enough points to make sure we are competing in the Premiership next year."

8:53am Monday 24th March 2008

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