MAGPIES’ boss Craig Laird praised the character of his squad after they battled back to secure a 2-2 draw against Hitchin Town.

 

Laird also had special praise for defender Neil Martin after he scored Saturday’s equaliser, saying that the goal was “deserved”.

 

He said: “Neil’s got quality, he does that in training and can pop them in the corner and he deserved his goal for the hard work he’s put in over the months and years to be able to play consistently at this level.

 

“We started well and I was disappointed to see us go two goals down against the run of play.

 

“We had good shape but the goals were disappointing, particularly with the gameplan we had, so we had a few stern words with the players at half-time.

 

“It was good that we didn’t capitulate after the first goal which we have done recently. It would have been good to go into half-time just one goal down, but to concede a second goal, it can be detrimental to the attacking team because they don’t quite know what to do.

 

“But I always felt we had a few goals in us. We looked strong going forward, we just needed that little bit of luck which we got with the first goal, and then kept plugging away for the second.

 

“It became an exciting match after that, both sides were trying to push forward and I think a draw was fair based on the overall match.

 

“We had good, balanced and physical football team out there, but there’s still a long way to go with them.”

 

The manager was also keen to praise the team spirit of his young side. He said: “We’ve got a strong unit here, despite what people think on the outside. We came together and I think that showed. It was great for everyone to see that from the players.”