Notts County manager Martin Paterson hailed his team’s “complete” performance after watching them thrash Crawley 4-0.
The profligate streak which sometimes undermines the hosts’ good work threatened to haunt them again until Scott Robertson’s superb finish on the stroke of half-time.
A triple change saw the visitors improve after the break but Paterson’s substitutions proved more effective as replacement Jayden Luker recorded assists for both of fellow sub Tyrese Hall’s goals as well as Alassana Jatta’s effort.
Paterson said: “I thought, for the first time this season, we really looked like the team I believe we can be. We were good on the ball and, importantly, good off it too. That made everything complete. It was a real collective display.
“We’ve got players coming back now. When you’ve got quality players in that situation, they are desperate to get on the pitch and show what they can do.
“We were totally committed. The fans could see that and they drove the players on, because they could feel it. This is a new team so it was great to see that happen. Now it’s back to work again on Monday.
“I know (Crawley manager) Scott (Lindsey) well. We came through the coaching system together, at the IFA, about 16 or so years ago.
“I know how good he is and I know how good Crawley can be. So no stone was left unturned during the week.
“There were lots of positives for us and that’s a good feeling. Now we want to carry it on.”
Crawley had won their last three matches in all competitions but were well beaten in Nottingham.
Boss Scott Lindsey said: “I feel like I, we, have wasted a week. We’ve wasted a week of preparation and travelling up here. It just feels like a waste of 90 minutes.
“They were more present in the game than we were. We were pretending to press and we didn’t have that swagger I want my teams to have.
“If you aren’t totally present, coming to a place like this, then you don’t stand a chance.
“I thought the fans were brilliant at the end, by the way. Watching your team get beaten like that away from home isn’t a good day out and I wouldn’t have been happy. But they stayed with us.
“Some of the goals we gave away were ridiculous. To be honest, when these interviews are over I just want to go away and forget about it.
“But we do have to learn from this. Be that showing individual clips to the players or whatever.”
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