Dino Maamria was disappointed to not give the travelling 608 Stevenage supporters something to take home on Saturday as the Sky Bet League Two season got underway with defeat at Salford…
Two goals in either half for Emmanuel Dieseruvwe and two early Boro substitutions forced through injury conspired to make it a less-than-ideal first outing in 2019/20.
“Not the start we were looking for,” Maamria said. “We didn’t start too well the first five minutes, they took control of the game early doors but to be fair after that we got back into the game and looked quite comfortable in possession and build up play going forward.
“We conceded the goal late in the first half and that wasn’t good really in terms of the counter-attack, our defensive transition wasn’t good,”
“The biggest thing for us was that I was forced to make the two substitutions at critical points of the game. I had to re-shuffle and we had to do a lot of changes today. We have a few injuries, we know where we have to strengthen, in certain areas of the pitch.
Despite the challenging circumstances, Maamria’s men pushed until the end for a route back into the game, best typified by captain Scott Cuthbert.
“You could see Scotty Cuthbert at the end there, making a block on his own six yard box then emerging on the other side of the pitch trying to score a goal. That is the type of character we need as a Stevenage player – a never die attitude –and we kept going to the end.
“It was an unfortunate day for us but I want to make sure to thank our fans who came up today. We are very disappointed we didn’t give them the result or performance they were looking for.”
Stevenage return home on Saturday for the first time this season to face Exeter City and Maamria is confident that his side will turn things around and put in an improved performance.
“A lot of people talk about the first game, especially with this one, it was all about Salford today.
“There is still plenty left in the season, you can win, lose or draw the first game, it is a long season yet. We have to follow the process, keep improving certain areas of the pitch and hopefully if we try to get somebody on the left hand side or one or two back fit, we will be better next week.”
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