Robby's reaction: Hint of handball with equaliser?

Dons manager Roberto Di Matteo was happy with his side's effort at Prenton Park, but admitted a poor pitch made any passing football difficult, and was unhappy with the decision to let Tranmere's equaliser stand.

It looked like Peter Leven's penalty kick would be enough to hand the Dons all three points in a scrappy affair, but Terry Gornell's equaliser saw the Dons leave Wirral with a point. Despite the late equaliser Robby was happy with his side's performance, although he was disappointed with both the condition of the pitch and the Tranmere equaliser, which the Dons players felt came courtesy of a handball. The manager had this to say to BBC Three Counties Radio:

Roberto: "I think it was a fair result, to be honest. At the end of the game, when you're ahead and you concede a bit of a scrappy goal you're a bit disappointed but I think tomorrow we'll be happy looking back having picked up a point here.

Question: "Do you feel you struggled to get into a rhythm? In the first half the game didn't really seem to get going."

R: "I think the pitch had a lot to do with it. We didn't manage to get the ball down on the ground because the ball was bouncing off the ground all the time. It was difficult and we couldn't really get into our play, our flow. The first half was a bit scrappy."

Q: "Is that something you had to discuss before the game when you saw the pitch - did it almost change your gameplan a little bit?"

R: "Yeah a little bit, but you don't want it to be affected too much. Our gameplan away from home has always worked very well. Again today I thought we did well, defended well, tried to be positive going forward. They're a very tough team and credit to Tranmere, it's a difficult place to come and we managed a point."

Q: "Were you slightly disappointed that you didn't manage to test their 'keeper too much?"

R: "Yeah, at the end of the day you always try to create more chances and we always do, but today it wasn't easy."

Q: "You went with Aaron Wilbraham [as the lone striker], recalled after suspension, was that a tough decision to make?"

R: "Yeah, it was a very tough decision because obviously Ali [Gerba] last week did extremely well for us, but it's about the squad. We've got quite a few games coming up and I'm sure we'll need everyone."

Robby also added the following while speaking to the club website, regarding the Tranmere equaliser:

"My players were saying in the dressing room that the goal was handball, that he punched it in with his hand, so on top of that we're disappointed it was allowed.

"At the end of the day I think it's a good point away from home."