Robbie Stockdale said:

"Firstly, I love this competition, I love the National League Cup for our players. It gives them a feeling of how that next step could look like for them. My overriding feeling is that I am just really pleased for the players, I’m pleased for the lads, they’ve put a lot of effort in.

"When the draw came out and I saw the group we were in, I thought, that’s a test. We played York, played really well with the ball, they were top of League Two at the time. We played really well at Bradford with the ball, they were top of League One at the time, narrowly got beat.

"Tonight, we played against a really strong and physical Rotherham team and it had to look a little bit different. We had to look really organised, really solid. Our young players had to play like senior pros, like men, head the ball, challenge, win duels and across the board, we ticked all of the boxes.

"It looked different to the other games but that is part of the development. You have to play the game in front of you and it won’t always be pretty and I think they’ll be better for the experience.”

"Kyran (Thompson) is still a work-in-progress. It’s the out-of-possession stuff we are are really driving home with him and he’s taking it on board. He’s a great kid, he’s desperate to learn, desperate to get better and he is at a high level anyway - but if we can tidy up those bits without the ball, when to press, when to win a duel, that will only stand him in good stead.”