A proud Mark Yates praises his side despite cup defeat at Brighton.
Cheltenham chief Mark Yates speaking to the press following the 2-0 loss away at Brighton:"I am proud of my team. I thought they worked tirelessly and put in a real shift against a good side. It took them to the 79th minute to break us down and the goal at the end we didn't deserve but it happens. We weren't as offensive as I would have liked to have been but we wanted to boys to show workrate, ability with the ball and they nearly did that. One or two individuals were superb and the system suited us once again. They struggled to break us down and Trev (Carson) said at half-time that he had hardly touched the ball and that was exactly why. We just switched off for the goal and in the last minute we have tried to press and they have broken.
"I was delighted and I think the crowd were pleased we gave a good showing. We were hoping we might nick a set piece or there would be a little magic from someone and we showed glimpses but probably didn't do enough with the ball because we had to do a lot of work off it. Unfortunately we just came unstuck at the end.
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"I am really pleased with the workrate from the first two games. If we continue to do that then we'll be okay. I think the least we should expect of eachother is workrate and they know now what we mean by that and the standards they set themselves. Bring on Accrington on Saturday now because we need the same attitude, workrate, commitment and endeavour. We need to try and create a little bit more.
"We have played two of the best teams we will play this season both away from home and we have won one and lost to a Championship team. We'll be alright if we show the same application because our football will get better.
"I though Craig Braham-Barrett was outstanding tonight and it was his best game so far in a Cheltenham shirt. I thought Troy was excellent and there were lots of good performances. Byron was back somewhere near his best against two decent defenders. Jack Deaman did himself proud tonight. He is a local lad to the area and I have no worries about throwing him in there particulary when we play that three.
"If you can tell me what formation Brighton played when they brought Lua Lua on then you are a better man than me! They had a lot of possession and we knew that would be the case. Some of our passing was good at times but we know that is something for us to work on.
"We have made a positive start and we look forward to Saturday. We'll make sure we recover because we have a small squad but tonight they have shown the workrate and spirit which will take us a long way."
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