Latics TV | Kal Naismith post-West Bromwich Albion.
Naismith stepped in as a central defender in the absence of Charlie Mulgrew and Chey Dunkley.
Latics restricted the visitors to just two shots on target in a 1-1 draw.

Speaking after an excellent performance in his side's 1-1 draw with promotion chasing West Bromwich Albion, Kal Naismith, who stepped into the centre of defence in the absence of the injured Charlie Mulgrew and suspended Chey Dunkley, said Latics are full of confidence heading into Saturday's game against Huddersfield Town after their efforts against the Baggies on Wednesday night.

On his 'new' position, Naismith began:

"I've played in the position in little bits during my time here. When you've got a player like Cedric next to you, Jedi to the left and Nathan on the right, they're top players and they talked me through the game. Samy and Lee in front were calm and worked their socks off.

"As a team performance, it was brilliant. The lads feel a little bit down not to come out of the game with more than a point, but there are loads and loads of positives to take from the game and we'll take those into Saturday."

Latics took the lead five minutes into the second half when Samy Morsy's effort from distance hit the post and rebounded off Sam Johnstone to find the net, but it was the volume of chances created and how tight Latics kept it at the back that impressed Naismith:

"I think we deserved to win the game. We created some great chances. We had a couple of moments when we were sloppy, but they didn't create any clear cut chances and we defended well.

"We looked great when we passed the ball and when you look back at it, all of our forward players had at least two chances each, which is very encouraging. Some of those chances were good efforts and the keeper has had a busy night, so we're disappointed not to get more from the game.

"They're a great side, so we have to be happy with the point. They're one of the best teams in the league, so tonight just shows you that on our day, if we're confident and we have belief in ourselves, then we can take on anyone in the league.

"Because of the way the season has gone so far for the team and for me, we've been playing with that little bit of fear, but everyone can look at this performance and know that we can match up to anyone and give them a good game."

On how Latics played after conceding the equaliser, Naismith added:

"We reacted well to conceding the goal. We did look a little bit shaky after it, but we lifted ourselves up, Jamie lifted himself back up and he was great at the end.

"We saw the game out well and that's another bit of confidence we can take forward into the Huddersfield game. We're looking for results, we're looking to win and we need points. It's a big game on Saturday and we'll be confident going into it."

Kal Naismith | "If we're confident and have belief in ourselves, we can take the game to anyone."