Michael Duff: I don’t know how Wycombe haven’t won the game

Wycombe manager Michael Duff was at a loss as to how his team failed to take all three points following a goalless draw at Port Vale.

The Chairboys hit the post on two occasions but were unable to break the deadlock and had to settle for a share of the spoils.

The result sees Duff’s side stay 14th in the table having extended their unbeaten Sky Bet League One run to six matches.

But the former Northern Ireland international, who succeeded Mike Dodds as head coach in mid-September, felt they deserved all three points.

“After 20 minutes, from then on I thought it was total dominance,” Duff said.

“They had a lot of shots in the first 20 minutes but they were all blocked, which is a positive.

“We didn’t quite get out, but then once we started moving the ball, we made a couple of tweaks and I thought for the next hour to 65 minutes (we were in complete control).

“I don’t know how we haven’t won the game to be honest.

“But I’ve just said to them in there, from my point of view, all I can ask is fight, energy, attitude again and they’re going to the 95th, 96th minute.

“We keep the back door closed. It felt like a ‘please don’t be a 1-0 in the 88th minute from a long scramble or something like that’, and it wasn’t.

“(Goalkeeper) Will Norris made a save when he’s had to. It’s frustrating, but you win that 98 times out of 100. Today we didn’t – clean sheet, point, move on.”

Vale remain in the relegation zone but have moved up one spot to 22nd after ending a run of three straight league defeats.

Despite failing to score for a fourth league game in a row, boss Darren Moore was pleased with his team’s display.

“I thought it was a battling performance,” he said. “Credit to the players for the resilience showed today, the determination, the commitment to the shape and system.

“I just thought we went about our business in a manner that was pleasing to see, that we’ve probably not seen from Vale for a couple of weeks.

“I thought every single one of them, to a man, stuck to the game plan.

“We knew Wycombe would put the ball in the box a lot – they’ve got one of the highest percentage crossing rates in the division.

“So bringing the big man Ben Heneghan back in there – I thought he was a colossus today. He headed everything, he blocked everything.

“And I thought (goalkeeper) Joe Gauci came and took a lot of catches.

“But the biggest thing for me was the percentages that we can play. We stood up, we stood resilient and that was the pleasing thing.”