The Widnes co-boss was delighted with the desire and spirit showed by his and Kev Towey's side as a resilient display saw them secured a creditable point.

"I think we deserved to get back into the game and get a point based on our performance," Akrigg said.

"I've said to the lads that we were perhaps unfortunate only to get a point. I thought that we worked hard against a good side that will be battling at the top of the division come the end of the season.

"In the grander scheme of things, it's probably our best performance of the season. We've made a few changes and we've worked really hard as a team.

"We came here with a gameplan and it worked. I'm made up for the lads, but if we'd have been a bit more inventive going forward, we could have nicked it at the end."

The management duo handed debuts to Rhain Hellawell and Matty Waters who had both arrived on loan from Chester earlier in the week amongst six changes, and Akrigg saluted the contributions of the entire playing squad.

He said, "I thought that there was more of a togetherness today. The organisation was better and the communication was constant for 90 minutes.

"We've managed to hold a top-three side at bay and that's down to the discipline of the lads which was superb.

"Rhain and Matty were brought in and they've worked really hard to integrate into the squad seamlessly. As a squad, the lads deserve enormous credit today.

"We've always said that lads aren't always happy when their named as a substitute, but over the course of a season, you need players to make an impact when given the opportunity and that was crucial today with George coming off the bench to get the equaliser with his first touch.

"He's come on, affected the game and scored the goal to get the point we deserved."

Widnes now face a pivotal run of fixtures ahead of the New Year with the Whites facing five of the current top-eight in their next seven contests, and Akrigg challenged his players to maintain their performance levels moving forward.

"It's a tough run of fixtures but in this league, every game is a tough one," Akrigg said.

"You've got to be on it every week from the opening minute and today we were but we've got to see that level consistently.

"We've lost our last two games when we haven't been at the races but today was a big improvement and hopefully, we can build on this going forward."