Player/Coach Alan Smith spoke to the media on Monday ahead of our Johnstone's Paint Trophy match against Preston North End...
The former England international spoke of his delight at how well the club have done to get this far in the competition, but warned that it’s only going to get harder as we enter the final stages.
When asked about the cup run, Smith told the assembled journalists: “It seems to have been going on for a while and we’re still obviously three games away and three potentially very difficult games.
“We know how difficult it will be tomorrow night against a team and a football club that arguably should be, well definitely one league higher than they are and we know the task we’ve got in hand but we’re looking forward to it.
“I think football’s funny. The disappointment of Saturday will be something that we have to put to one side and luckily enough there’s another game only three days later and I think sometimes that’s the beauty of it.
“It was a massive disappointment for everyone, not because we lost, because Swindon were a very good team, one of the best teams that I’ve seen at this level in terms of how they keep the ball, but we were disappointed, as I say, not because we lost, but just that we didn’t do ourselves justice really because we’re better than we showed and that was the disappointment.”
With a trip to Wembley on offer for the club that comes through the Area Final, which will be between the winners of Tuesday night’s game and Walsall, Smith would love to see Notts rewarded for their efforts in the competition.
He said of England’s national football stadium: “Fortunately a few of us lads have been there but there’ll be a lot who’ve never been there and, as a football club and as a team and for the Manager and for Greg it would be nice to get there as some kind of reward for taking this competition seriously.”
Subscribers can watch the full pre-match interview with Alan Smith on Magpie Player.