Goalkeeper speaks following his penalty save in a dramatic local derby with the Latics
Having denied Jordi Gomez from the penalty spot in the dying seconds of Saturday’s derby clash with Wigan Athletic, Adam Bogdan believes that a point was the least Wanderers deserved.
A game which saw the Whites take the lead through Lukas Jutkiewicz, Nick Powell’s 88th minute strike looked to have secured the visitors a share of the spoils.
With referee Darren Drysdale awarding the Latics a spot-kick deep into injury time however, the Hungarian shot stopper’s heroics prevented Uwe Rosler's side from recording an unlikely victory.
A hectic clash from start to finish, Bogdan paid tribute to his teammates, claiming that the performance produced was worthy of nothing less than the point they acquired.
“I think we did fantastically,” he said. “We kept Wigan quiet for a long time during the game and managed to create so many chances against them.
“I think Ali Al-Habsi definitely kept them in the game, and of course if you don’t score and relieve the pressure, mistakes can happen and they punished us for it with the equaliser.
“I felt like we performed very well and we are disappointed not to keep a clean sheet and win the game, but maybe on another occasion, it might have been different.
“When you get a last minute penalty given against you, it is a great feeling when you save it because if Wigan would have scored, then the game would have been over.
“I’m really pleased that the method I chose worked and I managed to put him off a little bit.”
With Bogdan’s opposite number Al-Habsi denying Wanderers the opportunity to extend their lead on numerous occasions during the course of the game, the goalkeeper admitted that the team were under no illusions as to the task which was in front of them ahead of the match.
“I’ve said previously that Ali has always been a brilliant keeper – when he was at the club, he showed his qualities and when he went to Wigan, he managed to keep them in the Premier League for a long time.
“He’s back from an injury and I’m pleased to see him doing so well because he’s a great guy.
“Wigan are lucky to have him and they can thank him a lot because I felt that we created many chances and could have won the game.”
He concluded: “We are proud of ourselves and we applied ourselves well – that is the way we have to be from now until the end of the season to finish as high as we possibly can.
“We’ve had some difficult games, but it’s important now that we concentrate in the final lot of games and pick up as many points as we can.”