Smith: Spurs draw drained us

Gary Smith felt Stevenage's FA Cup exploits against Tottenham may have taken its toll on his players after losing for the first time since taking over following a 1-0 defeat at Notts County.

Stevenage, who held Premier League title challengers Spurs 0-0 in the cup on Sunday, looked to have earned a slightly less glamorous goalless draw after frustrating Notts at Meadow Lane.

They could have taken all three points had either Chris Beardsley or Don Cowan capitalised on an error-strewn defensive display by the hosts but Notts improved as the game went on and Jeff Hughes scored the winner in the 90th minute.

"It's not a nice feeling - it was a sickening, gut-wrenching feeling when that goal went in the back of the net," said Smith.

"I thought the second-half performance was probably better than the first. Chris Day made one or two great saves but by then we could have been ahead. But we haven't done enough in front of goal to get the win.

"Given the emotional drain of Sunday, the physical aspects of the players weren't where we'd like them to be."