Martin Paterson slams ‘unprofessional’ Notts County display in loss at Cambridge

Boss Martin Paterson offered a scathing assessment of his side after Notts County were hammered 4-0 at Cambridge.

The Magpies were three goals behind inside 33 minutes and created very little, even after U’s goalkeeper Jake Eastwood was sent off for handballing outside his box before half-time.

Goals from Dom Ball, Shayne Lavery and James Gibbons (2) helped the U’s replace the Magpies in third and they know three wins from their remaining four League Two games will see them promoted.

Paterson’s side will be hoping the U’s or MK Dons drop points if they are to climb back into the automatic promotion places.

“What’s clear to me is that the start of that game is unprofessional,” Paterson said.

“I’ve got nay excuse for that performance. I’ve got to close ranks and go back tomorrow, find a very, very quick solution, give home truths to myself and the group.

“It was probably one of the worst 90 minutes I’ve been a part of. I didn’t see something that represents what I’ve been working so hard for.

“We have all been working really hard for 10 months now, and to deliver that today it shocked me.

“To break the game down is disrespectful to the supporters. It’s unprofessional, it’s not good enough.

“It’s obvious where the problems were lying, but then I thought there were other elements of the game where we looked nowhere near what a Notts County team should be.

“We should be, and I hope everyone affiliated in my room is, hurting after that. I will work really hard to stamp that out very quickly.

“I’ve seen bouts of bad spells but for the main I’ve not seen a 90-minute performance that bad under my tenure.”

Cambridge boss Neil Harris felt his side were dominant from the start.

He said: “If you look at the nature of the game and the quality of the opponent, this was a big result.

“I thought we controlled the game from the first whistle, even 10 versus 11 we let them have the ball where we wanted them to have the ball.

“I think we defended one effort on our goal in the course of the 90 minutes. It was a really strong performance. The start was electric. You could see the hunger and desire in the players.

“You could all see the disappointment on the back of the Cheltenham goal scored against us in the last minute. The players have had to be patient to respond accordingly.

“We started on the front foot, it was aggressive, we asked lots of questions of the opponent. Ultimately, certainly in the first half hour, we ran all over Notts County.

“It wasn’t just the desire, but the way we moved the ball as well was outstanding at times.”