Stevenage boss Maamria: I would win promotion with Northampton's squad

Stevenage manager Dino Maamria has claimed he would win promotion from League Two this season if he was in charge of Northampton's squad.
Dino Maamria. Picture: Kirsty EdmondsDino Maamria. Picture: Kirsty Edmonds
Dino Maamria. Picture: Kirsty Edmonds

Maamria made the claim after Saturday's last-gasp 2-1 defeat to the Cobblers when Andy Williams scored a 92nd minute winner after Alex Revell had cancelled out Joe Powell's first-half opener.

The Stevenage boss talked up Town's squad before the game but took it one step further when speaking in his post-match interview on Saturday as he lamented a costly defeat in their pursuit of a play-off place.

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“It's frustration and disappointment more than anything," he said. "The goals we conceded were basic, basic, basic errors.

“What we did with the first goal is not what we’ve been working on the last two weeks. Not at all.

“We kept doing well going forward, and then the second goal you couldn’t believe it really. It's about two individual errors and it’s very disappointing.

“Northampton, look at their players, look at their squad. No disrespect to my players, but if I have their squad I get promotion there.

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"This was a game we could not afford to lose. We had to win. We didn’t for many reasons, the main one being we didn’t defend well enough.

"Going forward I thought we looked fantastic. I can’t believe we only scored one goal. I thought we were a threat throughout the game, but defensively we were very poor.

“If you’re serious about the ambition and the chance of promotion, you can’t make those mistakes. Those big games, and there will be bigger games, if you don’t deal with that situation, then you’ll end up mid-table where we are.”