Middlesbrough manager Neil Warnock had mixed feelings after watching his side hold Championship leaders Norwich to a goalless draw at Carrow Road.
It was an excellent result for a team who had suffered successive home defeats, but could have been even better as they played the final quarter against 10 men following the dismissal of Emi Buendia.
Boro were unable to make the extra man count in a game of few clear-cut chances, having being grateful for a bad miss from Norwich's Mario Vrancic in the early stages.
"You've got to be happy coming here and getting a draw – but there's little tinge of sadness that we haven't got the three points," said Warnock.
"I think they've been fabulous today – the lads. They gave me absolutely everything. I'm really proud of them. After three games in five and a half days, the travelling that we've done, it's a remarkable effort.
"We got in some really good positions, but we just couldn't get a proper connection. I thought there were a couple of great runs but we didn't do enough in the final third, I can't get away from that.
"At the end of the first half I thought we started to gain the ascendancy and we stepped it up again at half-time."
Warnock, who used Marc Bola to man mark Buendia, said the Argentinian's fourth dismissal of his Norwich career had come as little surprise.
"We did say he's likely to get sent off – he does silly things at the wrong time, so we were aware of that," said Warnock. "And once he'd been booked, anything could happen with him. And it definitely was a booking.
"But he's not a bad player is he... I'd certainly have him in my team!"
Having brought in Darnell Fisher and Yannick Bolasie during the week, and handed them their debuts at Carrow Road, Warnock is hoping to further add to his squad ahead of Monday's deadline.
"I'd certainly like to add one more, perhaps even two – we'll just have to see what happens over the next couple of days," he said. "We're still in a decent position in the table and after this result the challenge now is to put together another run and see where it takes us."
Norwich manager Daniel Farke had some sympathy for Buendia as he reflected on a frustrating afternoon for his side.
"It was of course not necessary but it feels harsh on him and also unfair," he said.
"Emi is a player who gets so many tackles against him, so many hits, and has to handle much pain during a game. So for him to be sent off feels very very harsh, especially in a game where elbows were in the air – there is a fear Max Aarons has a broken nose from an elbow against him.
"We don't have to speak about the first yellow card, we have to accept the second as both players tried to get the ball. He is perhaps 0.1 second too late and the experienced opponent makes a bit more out of it than was in it.
"It is harsh because it was not a tactical foul, there was no bad intention and there was no danger of a big injury.
"It was costly for us because 11 v 11 we would have won. He was punished enough to miss the rest of this game and now he misses the next two games. It feels harsh but we can't change much."
On the game, Farke added: "It was a difficult game as I expected. They came here with nothing to lose and when Boro are spot on in their defence it is difficult to create chances against them. We didn't create enough to score a goal. We lacked energy where it counts in the final third."
