Shaun Derry felt his side dominated Stags but praises Steve Evans' men

Cambridge United manager Shaun Derry praised Mansfield Town for keeping going until the end to snatch a late 2-1 win over his side.
7 December 2016....... Bradford City v Cambridge United, Checkatrade Trophy round 2.
Cambridge manager Shaun Derry. Picture Tony Johnson.7 December 2016....... Bradford City v Cambridge United, Checkatrade Trophy round 2.
Cambridge manager Shaun Derry. Picture Tony Johnson.
7 December 2016....... Bradford City v Cambridge United, Checkatrade Trophy round 2. Cambridge manager Shaun Derry. Picture Tony Johnson.

But Derry was adamant United deserved at least a point.

“I thought it was a dominant display from our lads,” he said.

“Even at 1-1 and 2-1 down we were still pushing the buttons trying to get the winner and the equaliser.

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“What we do know is that Steve and his team go right to the very end and they play a very direct style of play into the front men and jump on second balls.”

He added: “I thought we deserved a result today and I’m very, very disappointed to come away with nothing.

“I thought for 65 minutes we were excellent – the complete polar opposite to the last time we lost away at Barnet.

“It was a really strong, aggressive, intelligent away performance up until the point where we switched off.

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“I need to see the penalty again before I can comment on it but I didn’t see many Mansfield players’ arms in the air appealing for it.

“The second goal disappointed me as we contested the first part of the entry into the box and we’ve not contested the second properly and you end up losing the game.”

Stags stay in the top seven but United drop out.

“It is disappointing as it’s vital moments in games like these between top seven teams – and we are playing like a top seven team as results and performances prove that,” said Derry.

“We should be up there and the disappointment of today is that we fall out of it and I didn’t think that type of performance warranted that.

“I am picking today, though, as I know that against a lesser opposition we’d have put somebody right to the sword. But that’s credit to Steve Evans.”