Dave Dempsey | Cefn Druids (A) Reaction

Dave Dempsey emphasised the importance of "getting minutes in the tank" after Widnes played out a goalless draw at Cefn Druids.

The Whites had the better of the chances but were unable to find a breakthrough on a hot day in North Wales.

But the boss was pragmatic in his assessment of the outing, highlighting a number of positives on show.

"We've kept a lot of the ball and had some really good possession but the end product was lacking," Dempsey admitted.

"If you're not clinical enough, you're not going to score many goals but defensively, I thought we looked solid.

"We moved the ball through the thirds quite well on a really hot day. It's good for the players to play in that weather with further minutes in the tank.

"On the whole, it was frustrating from our point-of-view. We should be scoring goals from the areas we got into.

"It's not necessarily worrying. If we weren't creating chances, it'd be a different story. If we'd had 20% of the ball today and had a bit of a run around, it would be panic stations.

"But it wasn't. I thought it was a controlled performance but we've just not managed to score.

"I think if we scored early doors based on the areas we got into, it probably would have been a different game once the lads settled down.

"We were searching for that perfect pass and that perfect opportunity to score but we weren't quite clinical enough."

Dempsey highlighted his side's defensive performance, with goalkeeper Owen Wheeler enjoying a quiet afternoon in North Wales.

The Whites even experimented with a 3-5-2 formation in the second half, but only once was Wheeler called into action during the contest.

"I can't recall Owen having a save to make, to be honest," Dempsey said.

"His gloves haven't been worked and I thought he did really well with his distribution as a goalkeeper.

"I don't want to say we've dictated the game, because that would be unfair on Cefn, but we have had a lot of possession and some really good moments.

"But we've made the wrong choices at the wrong times and more composure in front of goal probably would have led to three or four goals."

Dempsey suggested that the biggest positive for his side was a number of his players completing the full 90 minutes.

Widnes did lose Fisnik Hajdari to a hip injury after 25 minutes but the boss says that the change was simply precautionary.

"He's had a knock on his hip. It was quite sore in the week in training," Dempsey said.

"It was probably a little bit too soon for him but he's going to miss the next couple of weeks as he's away and we're without him for the first three games of the season through suspension.

"But minutes in the tank is important. To play in this heat is such a challenge for both teams and I think that showed late on with a little bit of fatigue."