Notts County manager John Sheridan believes this evening's display at Scunthorpe was a 'massive improvement' on Saturday's performance at Yeovil.
Sheridan was disappointed with his side's showing in the Sky Bet League Two opener but was encouraged with what he saw tonight at Glanford Park, despite his side suffering a 2-0 defeat after extra time.
Speaking after the match, the manager said: "It was a massive improvement on Saturday's performance. Full credit to the players - they put a real shift in.
"I'm a bit down at the moment - gutted for the players and very frustrated because I think we deserved something from the game.
"We had some great opportunities and I thought we defended really well - we didn't give them too many opportunities. Our shape and work ethic to keep things tight was very good.
"I felt we competed well against one of the strongest teams in League One. I've got to stay positive. If we keep creating chances, hopefully they'll become goals."
Sheridan is now targeting victory over Stevenage in Notts' first home match of the season on Saturday.
And, after making changes this evening, he has plenty of selection decisions to make ahead of that match.
He said: "I made one or two changes - people came in and did well and I think the system worked OK.
"Whether the team will be the same on Saturday I don't know. I think I've got different personnel who are going to perform at home and ones who are going to have to fight and work their socks off away from home - they're decisions I've got to make."