Salford boss Neil Wood said his side need to be “miles better” following their 1-1 draw at home to Crawley.
The hosts trailed at the break due to Luke Garbutt’s own goal, but Conor McAleny’s early second-half strike earned them a point.
Salford, who averaged the most possession in League Two last season, had only 39 percent of the ball in the first half and Wood was less than impressed.
He said: “I thought first half we weren’t good enough, we weren’t at our best.
“We were too passive and we let them play too much.
“Second half we started strong, we got a bit of a grip on the game and they died off a little bit with the high press.
“We had some good momentum in periods of the second half – an improvement but we’ve got to be miles better.
“We knew they were going to come with a high press, an all-action team. You need quality on the ball to play over it or play round it and we weren’t good enough at doing that in the first half. We were too far off them.
“The whole first half needs to be better by a million miles. Second half still wasn’t where we need to be. The standards we set ourselves we were way below that today but we’ll get better.”
Crawley manager Scott Lindsay was disappointed not to come away with a win, considering how well his team played, especially in the first half.
After battling relegation last season, Crawley have picked up four points from their opening two games, but Lindsey believes it should be six out of six.
He said: “Two points dropped in the game in my opinion. I thought we were outstanding in the first half, only one team in it and I don’t know how we didn’t score more goals. We had enough chances to win two games of football today.
“We were outstanding in the way we pressed, the way we had possession. Second half they changed as we knew they would, going from a back three to a back four, which meant we had one player less to press, but we had good solid numbers behind the ball.
“Me and the players are so disappointed to come to Salford and get a draw. I expect to come here and win with what I’ve got in that dressing room, especially the way we played. I want to drive those standards throughout the whole football club.
“We’re playing good football and we’re creating a lot of chances.”
O'Neil: Pressure has given Wolves 'opportunity' to shine
Wolves boss Gary O'Neil believes his players are beginning to see a deserved reward for their hard work after a difficult start to the Premier League season.
Matheus Cunha's double caught the eye in their 4-1 win against Fulham, alongside goals from Joao Gomes and substitute Goncalo Guedes, as Wolves showed their attacking quality in equal measure to ease some of the tension surrounding O'Neil.
The opening months of the 2024-25 campaign have caused pressure to rise on O'Neil's position after they claimed just one point in their first eight games.
They have now claimed eight points in their last four league games and climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time this season with their victory at Craven Cottage.
O'Neil praised his players at full-time, referencing the battling qualities shown by the squad after key summer exits, and a run of form that could have seen them lose faith in him.
"It's probably one of my favourite performances in my time here as a coach. We knew this was going to be a really tough test with the players we were missing," he told BBC Sport.
"It's been a tough run overall, and we had a tough transfer window. Any team who loses its captain and one of its top players will always have to find a new way to do things in the following season.
"We were given a tough fixture list to start the season with, and the league position brings with it pressure and noise, and that was for us to deal with.
"That pressure also brought an opportunity for us to stand up and show who we are and every single one of them have done just that. We can enjoy this win, but there is still plenty of work to do."
Meanwhile, Fulham have lost three of their last six Premier League games (W2 D1), as many as in their previous 12 games in the competition (W5 D4).
Despite matching Wolves' 10 shots, and creating a similar expected goals (1.01 to Wolves' 1.26), Fulham struggled against their clinical opponents, especially while playing with 10 men following Joachim Andersen's injury, with no substitutions left.
"It was really weird game. That's the Premier League," Marco Silva told BBC Match of the Day. "It's easy for us to say we were really unfortunate. It was a situation [where we had to] play with 10 men without a red card.
"We can't just be looking at the score. The two goals when we were with 10 men didn't reflect the game, in my opinion."
Clement 'cannot ask much more' from Rangers despite Dundee United draw
Philippe Clement was left frustrated following Rangers' 1-1 draw with Dundee United, but acknowledged he "cannot ask much more" from his players.
The Gers dropped their first points at Ibrox in the Scottish Premiership season, and could trail leaders Celtic by 11 if the Hoops beat Hearts later on Saturday.
Sam Dalby's 36th-minute header put the visitors in front, though Vaclav Cerny's smart finish levelled the contest midway through the second half.
The hosts pushed for the winning goal, with Ianis Hagi and Robin Propper denied by United goalkeeper Jack Walton later on.
Yet, despite over 70% of the possession and nine shots on target to their opponents' one, Clement's side were forced to settle for a share of the spoils.
"We need to reward ourselves, and we need to play like we played in the second half, 90 minutes long," he told Rangers TV. "Like that, you strangle teams like you did in the past, and that's the football I want to see.
"I cannot say anything about commitment in the second half, the team pushed until the last seconds to score a winner, and the goalkeeper made some excellent saves. The team was not rewarded in that way.
"It's frustrating to lose points in a game where you face one shot on target, and it's a goal. Last season, we won these games and, now, you lose points, so we need to get back to the level of before.
"They fought until the end. We had really good opportunities. You cannot ask much more, only to score the second goal. Then, you have a totally different feeling after the game."
Meanwhile, Jack Butland was left to rue what might have been, with the goalkeeper insisting he and his team-mates must up their game.
"It can't take until the second half to get going," he said. "We've got to be better. We've given away too many easy goals against teams that are just looking to hang onto something.
"It's not a great result at all. It feels like a loss. These games have got to be wins. It's not what the fans deserve from the game today. We need to do much more."
Villa 'deserved more' from draw with Palace, says Emery
Unai Emery suggested Aston Villa "deserved more" than a point after coming from behind twice to draw 2-2 with Crystal Palace at Villa Park.
The result sees Villa's winless streak extend to six matches across all competitions (D2 L4), equalling their longest run without a victory under Emery (also six in April-May 2024).
After Ismaila Sarr's early opener, the hosts needed Ollie Watkins to pull them level before Ross Barkley cancelled out Justin Devenny's strike with 13 minutes to go.
Yet having seen a penalty saved and hitting the woodwork, Emery felt his team should have got more from the match.
"We deserved more, but we made some mistakes that we need to correct. We had chances to score, we came back. The penalty was a key moment," he told Sky Sports.
"In the second half, we pushed and felt close to scoring, but we have to accept one point."
Youri Tielemans had the opportunity to put Villa ahead on the stroke of half-time from the spot but placed his shot at a saveable height for Dean Henderson, who guessed the right way.
It allowed Palace to break down the other end through Sarr, who squared to Devenny to send the visitors into the lead just before the break.
Emery admitted his players are "concerned" about their vulnerability in transitions and rued the mistakes being made.
"Here at home, we were thinking how strong we were, winning 15 games in a row and how we can recover confidence, impose our gameplan. We are losing some opportunities. We are conceding a few chances for the opponent and making some mistakes," he told reporters.
"We are not getting three points but deserving here at home to win. We played well against Arsenal, Bournemouth, Man United and here. But we are making mistakes and they are punishing us.
"Overall we had more chances, we dominated the match. We have to correct matches where we play like we did today and get more points."
Villa led their opponents comfortably on expected goals (xG), accruing a total of 3.18 compared to Palace's 1.27.
The visitors also had key players Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton out, leading Oliver Glasner to be pleased with his side's fighting display.
"I'm very proud of the team's performance. We’re missing some key players in attack, but we still scored two amazing goals," he said.
"I'm very proud how they played together, worked together, fight together and believed in getting a point here.
"Overall, it was a good performance for us, and we go home very pleased with the point."
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