We've bounced back from a disappointing result

Last updated : 13 August 2008 By Tony Scholes
Home boss Alan Knill was bitterly disappointed with the result but delighted with the way his side played against the Clarets. "Owen Coyle has said I should be proud, but we should have won this game and it is really difficult to explain," Knill said after the game.

"I've said his before, I don't care who we play, I think we have a decent team here and we have just shown that we are more than capable of beating a top Championship team. The bottom line is though; they are in the next round, not us.

"That's the way it is, they took the chances they had and we haven't. It is really difficult to sit here and talk about it, and I know that there are lots of positives to take from the game, but we lost the game when we had opportunities to not only equalise, or even before that, we had opportunities to win the game.

"We have the players to score the goals, we have got chances in the team but tonight we didn't take them. The overriding feeling for me is one of disappointment. I know that we performed against a really good team that have spent an unbelievable amount of money, but the chances were there for us, and really I should be sat here talking about us in the next round, but I'm not, so it is a marker to set down for the players that the performance was good, but at the end of the day we've been here before. It is about results and it is about winning.

"Their first goal was a great cross, a fantastic ball. The second one was self inflicted. But we were good, I know we were good. I know Owen Coyle is going to say how good we were and this and that, that's because he is walking home in the next round, not necessarily because of that, but it is always easier to say that. We are disappointed because we should be in the next round.

"There is nothing we can do but draw a line under it now and move on because the next one is the next challenge."

As for Owen Coyle, like the rest of us I'm sure it was more relief at the final whistle as we got our first win of the season. "It was a long four days and it doesn't take the hurt away from Saturday," he said, "But that's behind us and we have to kick on now in an important and tough game against Ipswich.

"A clean sheet was very important tonight and Brian Jensen made a double save, big saves at that spell of the game. I was always playing him tonight regardless of last Saturday. I think it was always touch and go who started the season anyway because he and Diego Penny have both had good pre-seasons.

"I've always said that when you bring good players to a club, sometimes you get a tremendous response from those already there and that's what's happened with Brian. I think Diego's arrival has given Brian a real kick-start and it has given me a real selection dilemma for Saturday, but that's what I want."

Apart from his goalkeeper Coyle also had words of praise for two of his defenders Stephen Jordan and Christian Kalvenes and said of the game: "We got a response tonight in what was never going to be an easy game.

"Bury were buoyed by a terrific result on Saturday and the conditions were tricky. But I thought we passed the ball well in the first half and had numerous chances. We felt it was only a matter of time until we got the goal and I was delighted because it was a real footballing goal.

"I am delighted for Martin. Three goals in two games show the reason why we brought him to the football club and he will be a real asset for us."

Coyle wasn't quite so pleased with the performance after the half time interval and added: "I think we could have passed it better in the second half and while there was only one goal in it, it was always going to be nervy.

"Alan Knill can be proud of Bury because they offered a lot to the game. But we stuck to it and we got the second goal late on. We've bounced back from a disappointing result and got ourselves in the hat for the second round."