Boss reflects on win over Notts County and is pleased with how his squad is shaping up for the season-opener at Northampton Town next month.
Manager Paul Cox was thrilled with the way that our players applied themselves in a 3-1 win over higher-division Notts County at One Call Stadium this afternoon.
Despite going behind to an early strike by Brad McGowan, our team responded magnificently with Alex Fisher drawing us level with a spot-kick, before Martin Riley headed us into a half-time lead.
Both teams made wholesale changes at the interval and the scoring was completed late on when Ollie Palmer guided the ball home following Liam Marsden’s long-throw.
“It was exceptional and what we need,” said Cox. “We had a very good game on Thursday [where] the boys got 45 minutes under their belts and it was another competitive 45 minutes today.
“I’m happy with fitness levels and the sharpness will ultimately come with the more minutes the boys play. There were some good performances today in what was only our second game.”
The Stags also used four trialists in today’s match, all of whom weren’t named on the team-sheet, and our boss has stated that there will be more coming to the club over the next week.
He continued: “It’s nothing personal [not naming any trialists] it’s just that in a game where everyone is looking for something special we just want to keep them under wraps until we’ve made a decision.
“In all we used four trialists,” continued Cox. “There’ll be more coming in next week and probably more on show against Aston Villa and Birmingham City, but we’re hopeful to get another behind-closed-doors to help us out, and where we can have a look at the group of trialists at the club at the moment.”
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