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Point pleases Clough

Image: Nigel Clough: Not good enough

Sheffield United manager Nigel Clough was critical of his side after seeing them held to a 1-1 draw at home to Oldham.

Jonathan Forte scored against his old club to give the visitors a first-half lead with the equalising goal coming from Jamal Campbell-Ryce shortly after the hour mark. The opening goal came when Daniel Johnson's superb ball into the area found Forte, who slotted confidently past goalkeeper Mark Howard after 16 minutes. Campbell-Ryce levelled things up in the 63rd minute when he drilled in a low, angled shot from the right-hand side of the area and the ball found its way through a packed box to beat Paul Rachubka. Oldham had Jabo Ibehre sent off with three minutes remaining when he received a second yellow card. Clough said: "I thought Oldham were better than us for large portions of the game so in that context it's a very good point for us. "To play as poorly as we did at times and get a point out of the game is a good result, believe it or not. "We can't take any credit for the decision to send on Jamal Campbell-Ryce because it was enforced. Jose (Baxter) got a whack on his back and was struggling at half time so he only lasted 10 or 15 minutes. "Jamal came on and got us the goal. The most disappointing aspect was what we did after that. We got in some great positions and Jamal was as guilty as anybody because he didn't put the ball in the box." Following the club's decision to withdraw a training offer to convicted rapist Ched Evans, Clough commented: "We've always concentrated on football. That's always been our focus all the way through. "We haven't let anything off-the-field affect us and that isn't the reason for today's poor performance at times." Oldham boss Lee Johnson was delighted with his team's performance. He said: "I thought we were excellent, given the circumstances. "We played well and I've got nothing but praise for my boys. It was a good point. "Daniel Johnson has had seven or eight flights in the space of 10 days to go to different games and get back. "He's played two 90 minutes in the African Nations Cup and got back and put in a display like that. I thought that typified the good character of the players on the day. "It was a good striker's goal. We created plenty of chances and had efforts on goal and silenced the crowd to a point. "I have to say that I thought the referee's performance was poor. It didn't have a major effect on the result, however too many decisions for both teams were poor. There was a lack of understanding of the game." Breaking news, transfer gossip, line ups and goal alerts from your football club - delivered direct to your mobile. Sign up for Sky Sports Alerts

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