New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol was delighted with the character his players showed in Sunday's tough 1-1 draw with LA Galaxy at The Home Depot Center.

The Revs were down on form in their final two pre-season matches but managed to hold the Galaxy in wet conditions to grab a point from their opening away game of the season.

The former Liverpool star was happy his side were able to turn things around whilst praising skipper Shalrie Joseph for scoring the opening goal.

"Let's face it, we were really disappointed with the last two games we had during preseason," Nicol told MLSsoccer.com after the match.

"But the character was tremendous [on Sunday]. Everybody stood strong and we got what we deserved.

"Getting the goal, obviously, it's huge for us," Nicol added. "But again, it was a good goal. It was a great ball in and a great header down. It was ideal."

Joseph admitted that it was a decent result against a strong Galaxy outfit and a good start to the 2011 season for the Revs.

"They're a good team," Joseph said. "They pass the ball well, they create chances and they get a lot of service into the box. We were solid tonight. We gave up some chances here and there, but, at the end of the day, we'll take it."