Stags’ boss Adam Murray believes his side were ‘more like their old selves’ this afternoon despite being defeated 2-1 at home to Plymouth Argyle in the Emirates FA Cup.
The Pilgrims took the lead in the 14th minute thanks to Jordan Slew’s individual effort before winger Ashley Hemmings got Stags back on level terms in the second half with a wonderful half-volley. However, Plymouth snatched it towards the end as midfielder David Fox struck from just outside the penalty area to secure the away side’s passage in to the second round.
And manger Murray is taking the positives from the performance after seeing Stags dominate much of the game.
“There’s been a lot of positives on the pitch and off the pitch and I think the performance was more like our old selves today,” Murray said.
“There was a lot of energy, a lot of tempo, [we were] probably lacking a little bit of belief. I think, at times, we could have gone and had that little bit more confidence in our play in the final third but overall, [I’m] really, really pleased with some of the performances.
“We’ve let the players do the talking on the training ground and I felt the performance did that today and we’ll look to build on that. We know what we need to be about and today was more about us and a step in the right direction.
“I’m disappointed but we’ll take the positives. There were a lot of good performances, a lot of good attacking play and we probably should have got more out of the game.”
The gaffer also praised the One Call Stadium crowd for their on-going support throughout the match.
“It’s obviously great for the players to hear but I think the performance warranted that. It’s a two-way thing - you put performances in [and] people see you’re doing everything you can and you get the rewards for that.
“I think the crowd saw that the lads gave everything out there today and on another day you win the game and it’s just about building the belief back in to the players [about] how good they can be and moving forward with that.”
Boss Murray now wants to build on today’s display when he takes his side to the iPro Stadium on Tuesday evening (08 November, 7.45pm kick-off) to face Derby County in the final game of the Checkatrade Trophy group stage.
“We want to build on that performance today, we want a positive result and we want to qualify for the next round so we’re going there to win on Tuesday, we’re not going there as a game we don’t want.
"We want the game and we want to win it [on] Tuesday because it’s important. That was important today to get us back playing and get us back controlling the game and dictating to the top of the league, so we’ll take little wins out of that.”
Supporters can view Adam Murray’s post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD.
