Jon Stead said Notts were “terrific from the first minute” in their 1-0 Emirates FA Cup third-round win at Brentford.
The striker’s stunning effort, a 25-yard curler, was enough for the Magpies to see off the Championship outfit at Griffin Park and book Notts’ place in the fourth round.
And the 34-year-old said he and his team-mates were fully deserving of the victory.
“It’s incredible,” said the veteran. “I thought we were terrific from the first minute today and caused them problems. We were a little disappointed we didn’t create more with the half-chances we managed to get in the first half.
“But in the second half we had to start brightly and I think we did that. From kick-off in the second half we looked strong and likely to get that goal.
“I’m delighted with the goal. In the early part of my Notts career I was cutting in a lot on my left foot and producing decent shots and goals. This season and the back end of last season I’ve been spooning a lot of them over the bar so to get it right on this stage was really pleasing.”
The result means Notts have registered successive 1-0 wins to start the new year and Stead says the dressing room is full of confidence after responding to the 1-0 defeat at Swindon a week ago with those victories.
“The lads are delighted,” he said. “We came here full of confidence wanting to get something out of the game. They have some fantastically technically-gifted players and if you give them a chance they will cut through and open you up.
“You have some luck but I think we earned that through our determination and team spirit, which came to the forefront again today. It’s great for me to get the goal but you see goal-line clearances, blocks, tackles which are even more important than scoring at the other end.
“We’re in the hat, everyone is buzzing and we got a decent performance away from home, which is what we wanted. The shackles were of - we could go and enjoy it and we showed a lot of our qualities which have gone under the radar a little bit.
“We want to keep on performing, proving doubters wrong and making sure we are progressing as a group, which I think we are doing.
"We have two massively important league games coming up now so we can go into those full of confidence off the back of this game.”