Notts County boss Stuart Maynard insisted his side deserved to win far more convincingly than their 1-0 success over Harrogate.
Alassana Jatta scored the only goal of the game early in the second half when he turned home the impressive Nick Tsaroulla’s cross.
The hosts had plenty of other openings, but David McGoldrick sent an effort over, while Jatta headed over from another Tsaroulla cross and was also denied by goalkeeper James Belshaw.
Maynard said: “We were excellent, dominant. I thought our energy levels were exceptional and it is a huge credit to our lads. I do not think that 1-0 did it justice.
“If we came away with a 4-0, 5-0 win there it would not have been undeserved.
“The first goal was huge. AJ (Jatta) could have had five today, but his work rate was exceptional.”
Midfielder Daniel Crowley was missing after failing a late fitness test, but the Magpies were not affected.
Maynard said: “We had to tweak it a bit, but very attacking and I thought Jevani Brown was excellent.
“He and Josh Martin were excellent. Nick Tsaroulla is going from strength to strength every game and some of his crosses are on the money. He was excellent, a constant threat and we knew because of that we had to keep working it to him.”
Two Matty Daly efforts stopped by Alex Bass were the closest Harrogate came to an equaliser and manager Simon Weaver was proud of his side’s efforts.
“They have given their all and they are shattered in the changing room,” he said.
“We wanted to take something from the game, but we did not in the end. We were statistically dominated, but these are big clubs that we have been playing at the moment. It is tough so I am proud that the lads were always in the game.
“We have to be better on the ball so that we have our say in these games and from the outside looking in people will say, ‘What gives you the right to have that say against these teams?’
“But we have to keep believing and demanding from the players in training so that we can go toe to toe with this quality of opposition.”
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