Boss Roy Keane felt Town could have played better but was pleased to see his side progress into round three of the Carling Cup after beating Crewe 1-0 after extra time at Gresty Road.

Keane said: “The performance could have been better, but we know what these cup games are like, even in my short period at the club.

“It’s about getting through to the next round and we’ve done that tonight without playing particularly well. I made one or two changes, we got a good goal and we’re just glad to be through.”

The Blues boss was impressed with Dario Gradi’s League Two team: “Credit to Crewe. They were very good technically and physically they were very strong, so it was a good test for us.”

Keane says it’s been a difficult beginning to 2010/11 with four of the first five games away from home, two going to extra time: “We’ve had a tough start to the season with a lot of away games. We’ll look forward now to playing at home on Saturday.

“Tomorrow, Thursday and Friday we’ll do very little with the players, it’ll be about recovery and getting ready for Saturday, and then after that we’ve got lads away on international duty.

"It’s been a tough start to the season and some of the boys have shown good character tonight.”

The Town manager was pleased with new signing Jason Scotland’s performance from the bench: “I thought he did very well, he wasn’t supposed to play for that long. The plan was to give him 45 minutes but he did well,

"He showed some good signs and he’ll be better for the game because I don’t think he’s played too much football over the last month or two with the speculation.

“I’m not sure he’s played much in pre-season, so I’m sure he’ll be tired tonight, like a lot of our players.”

Keane, whose side now go into Saturday’s Carling Cup third round draw, was unaware of any new injuries after the game.

Story syndicated from TWTD.co.uk

Photo: Action Images

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