BARNSLEY boss Nigel Spackman admitted his side rode their luck as he celebrated his first point as the new manager at Oakwell.

The Tykes were rescued by the woodwork three times in the second half as Rovers went in search of another valuable three points in their quest for promotion. But in the end Spackman was the happier manager as both sides had to settle for a point.

"It was always going to be a difficult game for us coming here and I think we rode our luck at times a bit in the second half, especially on one occasion when they hit the crossbar a couple of times," said Spackman. "But you need a little bit of luck when you're down the bottom.

"And we still created chances in the second half even though we were put under a lot of pressure. When Graeme Souness went with three up front I thought that was going to make it difficult for us.

"But we still broke away and Bruce Dyer had a good chance and so did Lee Jones. So I'm obviously satisfied with a point. I didn't want to get beat and I thought we defended very well at times with a very young team and a bit of a depleted squad. Everyone worked hard and it was a real team performance."

Despite frustrating his old boss Souness, Spackman still believes Rovers are in with a great chance of automatic promotion, however. "I think the second spot is wide open to be fair. Fulham keep grinding out results and they're well ahead of the rest. But I think that second spot will go right down to the wire. Bolton are doing well, Blackburn are doing well and Birmingham are on a good run so it's all to play for in there.

"But Blackburn have got a very good chance because of the size of their squad and the talented players they have at their disposal, especially in the forward line." QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Over the last few games Lady Luck has not been with us but that was the only thing missing from our game here." Graeme Souness