Braintree Town manager Danny Cowley was pleased to see the resilient side to his team as they picked up their first Vanarama National League point with him as manager.

Tranmere Rovers, who arrived at the Avanti Stadium sitting second in the table after winning both of their opening games, were shut out by an impressive Iron display in a goalless draw.

And while his team failed to capitalise on the good forward play they created in terms of goals, Cowley got what he was after following back-to-back defeats in their opening two outings.

He said: “I just wanted to see a bit more substance in us.

“I always want my teams to represent me as a person.

“I’d like to think that my qualities are hard work, determination and resilience and those are the qualities I wanted my players to show.

“I think we did that.

“We have defended well and they only had two shots – and they’re Tranmere Rovers.

“I’ve watched three of their recent games – against Everton and Shrewsbury in pre-season and Gateshead in the league – and they had very good control in them and created a lot of chances.

“So we’ve done well in that area, but there’s still work to do in terms of our counter-attacking and the fluidity of that.

“We want to be more creative around the final third.

“We can be a bit cleverer and a bit cuter around that final third because when defences are set up, we can unlock them.

“Those things are work in progress and the cherry on top of the icing, but the good thing against Tranmere was that we showed some substance.”

However, the game was overshadowed by a nasty injury for Braintree defender Matt Fry, who suffered a knee injury late in the game.

Cowley added: “We are worried about Matt Fry – he’s obviously got a serious one and when you have a small squad with limited funds you can’t afford serious injuries.

“So that’s a real concern to us and certainly takes the gloss off what was a good performance.

“You never like to see a player leave on a stretcher and it looked a bad one.

“It looked like he got his standing foot caught in the ground and whenever that happens and you take a big load through it, then you fear the worst.”

The injury looked bad when it first happened, however, the player himself later said on his Twitter account that he hoped it may not be a severe one.

"Pretty sore at the moment but hope injury not as bad as first feared," said Fry

"Fingers crossed."