Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale was pleased that a few changes in formation at half-time helped Exeter City come back to claim a 1-1 draw with Southend United on Saturday.
City were behind at the break after after David Worrall had headed home Will Atkinson's cross in the 33rd minute. Southend had deserved their lead up until that point as they had looked the better team in the first half.
Tisdale only made one change at the break – bringing on David Wheeler for Arron Davies. However, that enabled him to move a few other players around, including putting Danny Butterfield into the centre of defence, moving Matt Oakley into midfield and shifting Christian Ribeiro into a right-wing back role.
Those changes worked as City played much better after the break and equalised through Graham Cummins. They were, perhaps, unfortunate not to take all three points when Jimmy Keohane's shot rebounded off the base of a post late in the game.
Tisdale, who has had to contend with a recent injury crisis, admitted having players back helped him change things around. "The more players I have fit, the more options I have got," Exeter's manager said. "That was the plus against Southend.
"I had David Noble, Tom Nichols and David Wheeler on the bench. I suddenly saw options. It was all about getting positions on the pitch for our players to maximise their talents.
"We've not got the perfect players, but we have got lots of players with lots of obvious talents and my job is to highlight those talents and by nudging it again we ended up playing to the best of their ability.
"It is hard work doing that. It is an intellectual challenge and I know most teams don't even try to do it, but it is the way we get the most out of our players."
It is not the first time Tisdale has made changes at half-time this season that have ended up turning around a disappointing performance.
Dagenham and Redbridge away at the start of the month was a very similar game to the one at Roots Hall, while successful substitutions have also proved successful against Bury and Tranmere Rovers in September.
Tisdale says having versatile players is a plus.
"I like players who can play different positions and they are all used to doing it," he said. "When I make changes, the players take it on board so easily because we do it so many times. The propensity for making a mess of things is high, because you can lose your continuity, but I think we get it right more than we don't.
"At Southend we weren't good enough first half and we weren't as bad as it probably seems, but when you get lots of things that are quite right it affects things. We were always too far away from the ball and when we got on the ball we got pushed off it. They were stronger than us and quicker to the ball, but that is what happens sometimes when there is a little bit of disconnect.
"Second half we tweaked things and we looked the stronger, quicker side. It was down to those distances and second half we got those distances absolutely spot on."
There were a number of notable performances form City players in the second half – including Liam Sercombe, who played the perfectly weighted pass for Cummins' equaliser, and Butterfield, who slotted into the central defensive role with ease.
However, Keohane stood out the most as his strength on the ball and ability to link the midfield and attack proved a constant menace to the home side. And, having had Alex Nicholls' loan deal from Northampton Town cut short at the start of the month, it perhaps alludes to the fact that City have a ready-made replacement for him in their ranks if Keohane can keep up Saturday's form.
"He [Keohane] deserved a pat on the back against Southend because he played very well," said Tisdale. "He is getting stronger on the ball and one of his major assets is his ability to run. He is a really tenacious, industrious player. I thought he was one of the pick of the players, as was Danny Butterfield – he gave a master-class in reading the play at the back."
