MARK Beesley praised the character of his Warrington Town players as they secured a point at Scunthorpe United on Saturday.

And as they prepare to turn their attention to the FA Cup, he says the positives from the 1-1 draw have to be taken forward.

Yellows came from behind to share the spoils with the unbeaten National League North leaders, with Joe Rodwell-Grant’s leveller being only the second goal the Iron have conceded this season.

A stunning save from keeper Dan Atherton in second-half stoppage time secured his side a draw – one Beesley insists was fully merited.

“We worked our socks off to get something from the game,” he said.

“They’re a good team and they’re going to create chances so at times, you’re going to suffer out of possession but our shape was really good.

“They piled the pressure on at the end, got extra forwards on and put it in the box, and Dan’s come up with a wonder save in the 95th minute to earn us a point.

“The lads deserved that point for the amount of effort they put in and their willingness to work for each other. That’s a credit to them.

“The character and belief was there that we could get something. We created a lot of good chances in the first half – Bohan (Dixon) hit the post, we had chances from set-pieces.

“Our players enjoy these occasions, the big grounds and the big, wide pitches. They play some good stuff and the character they showed was outstanding.

“The league’s a tough league and we’ve got to compete everywhere they go.

“We’ve got a young squad who are learning about this league as they go and there will be bumps in the road, but they’ve got to take praise and credit for getting a point at the biggest club in the league.

“They’ve got to take belief and pull together.”

Rodwell-Grant’s goal was a typical striker’s finish as he instinctively prodded home an excellent Andy White cross for his first competitive goal for the club.

That gave Town something to hold onto after falling behind to Matt Grivosti’s unfortunate own goal just after the break and hold on they did thanks in no small part to a superb save from Atherton.

The goalkeeper, who was making his 100th appearance for the club, tipped Danny Whitehall’s header onto the bar from point-blank range with the game deep into injury time.

“His save at the end was outstanding,” Beesley said of his goalkeeper.

“I said to the lads in the dressing room that there’s not many better in this league than Dan Atherton.

“We all know keepers make mistake but over his 100 games, he’s probably not made many.”

On Rodwell-Grant’s goal, he added: “We’ve been working a lot with the forwards in the past few weeks on movement in the box and getting across people, and Joe got his rewards.

“He was on the move in the box, it was a great ball in and a good finish.”

Town had 94 travelling fans among a crowd of more than 4,500 at Glanford Park and Beesley hailed them for their continuous vocal backing.

Now, they have a week to prepare for their first FA Cup game this season as Radcliffe visit Cantilever Park in the second qualifying round on Saturday.

As the 10th anniversary of the club’s famous first round win over Football League side Exeter City approaches, Beesley admits a cup run is “vital” for the club this year and in order to aid that, the team is set to be boosted by some key returnees from injury.

“We’ve got people coming back – hopefully Jay Harris will train properly this week as will Ollie Southern, so that will give us more options,” he said.

“We’ve got a chance to work on things before our FA Cup game on Saturday. It’s vital that we have a good FA Cup run this year.

“I’m really pleased for our fans. We’ve had mixed results so far this year to put it mildly.

“Everybody outside of our dressing room probably came here with a bit of trepidation and they’ve got their rewards.

“They had a great day out – these kinds of occasions are why we’re in this league – and their backing was outstanding.”