Development squad coach Steve Hodge was pleased with the way that his side matched Wolverhampton Wanderers in their Barclay’s Under-21 Premier League Cup encounter at Meadow Lane.
Wolves came out on top on Wednesday night with a 2-1 victory, sealed by a stunning late strike into the top corner by Eusebio Bangessi.
Although Wanderers are an established Under-21s Premier League side, who come up against the best development talent English football has to offer every week, Notts competed in every area and there would have been no arguments had the game gone into extra time.
Hodge told the official site: “I thought it was a really competitive and we all put a lot in, as did they.
“It was a really poor start from us but after that we weathered the storm and grew into the game.
“We went into half time happy at 1-0 and then we got Andy Haworth’s great goal in the second half.
“It was anybody’s at that point but they produced the piece of brilliance at the end to win it.
“Overall I was quite happy with how we played and let’s say it was a battle more than a chess match, but I think all the players can walk away and say we had a good go against a good Wolves team.”
He added: “We’re trying to compete with these teams that have massive budgets by trying to nick players from here and there.
“We try to make them better and compete and it’s not easy, but our players have got good attitudes and we do work as a unit.
“Individually we’re getting better because they come on leaps and bounds in the first team, they see and play things quicker and I thought those players played pretty well against a decent team.
“Apart from the strike at the end it was a very even match.”
You can check out the match report by clicking here.
Look out for match highlights on Magpie Player.
Photo by Andy Stokes