Port Vale manager Neil Aspin felt "on another day (Vale) would've had all three" points as the Valiants picked up their first away point of the season, in a 1-1 draw at Forest Green Rovers.
Going into the game Vale were dealt with two huge injury blows with Leon Legge and Cristian Montano both being forced to miss out. This left Neil no choice but to rotate his squad, making four changes with Tom Conlon and Ben Whitfield both coming into the sides to make their first starts.
The gaffer opted to put winger Luke Hannant at left back to cover for the injured Montano, and despite some players having to play out of position, Neil Aspin was impressed with the attitude of his squad.
"We could've had three, on another day we would've had three. I think the performance today was good, especially when you throw into the equation we lost two of our defence from last week so we've had to reshuffle.
"I was encouraged by the efforts of the players today and a point is obviously a step in the right direction.
"Obviously we would've liked three but I thought there were some encouraging signs there today."
The Valiants started the game well and manager Neil Aspin admitted he was encouraged by the way his side hit the ground running from the start, but was disappointed that his side allowed Rovers to take the lead with their first attempt on goal.
Winchester lost his marker at the back post and managed to guide his header into the bottom corner from the free kick to give Forest Green the lead after 15 minutes.
It was a sucker punch for Vale after such a bright start, but the Valiants showed their character and their efforts were rewarded in the second half. A Tom Pope penalty levelled the scores, much to Aspin's delight.
"I felt we could get something from the game in the second half. We did and we deserved to, but obviously it would've been nice to get three points.
"I said what I thought at half time. The main thing is, you can't feel sorry for yourself, you have to go out there and make it happen. They're privileged to be professional footballers, as long as they give me 100% in terms of effort and committent.
"I think last week's game showed in the home game, everyone's disappointed if you lose, but the manner we lost last week we got good support and got applauded off. I feel we have to make sure we play like that every week if we can, regardless of the result the supporters will stick with us."