Karl Robinson lauded Salford City’s “wonderful performance” after they beat League One Stockport County 3-1 in the Vertu Trophy.
The visitors began the contest brightly and came close to opening the scoring when Owen Moxon’s fierce drive from distance was tipped onto the crossbar by goalkeeper Mark Howard.
Salford rode their luck early on and were fortunate to see a curling Corey O’Keefe effort cannon off the post, as Stockport hit the post for a second time inside the opening half hour.
But Robinson’s side gained a foothold in the game and broke the deadlock when Kyrell Malcolm miskicked the ball into the path of Josh Austerfield, who coolly finished his first goal for the club.
After Ben Woodburn was clumsily brought down in the penalty area, Jay Bird stepped up to double Salford’s lead in the 57th minute.
Salford ramped up the pressure and added a third when substitute Kallum Ceesay struck past goalkeeper Corey Addai.
Stockport found a late consolation goal when Odin Bailey found the bottom corner from the edge of the box, but the Ammies ran out convincing winners on the night.
After the match, Robinson reserved praise for some of the fringe players who took their chance to impress as Salford maintained their 100 per cent record in the Vertu Trophy group stage.
“We have a lot more strength in depth than we did last year,” he said.
“We have had an excellent summer transfer window and brought in some brilliant players. Jay Bird and Nicholas Siri caused problems all night for a very strong Stockport back four.
“It was not just their ability and attacking play, but their work rate, defensive play and the way they tracked back.
“Tonight, we came up against a very strong team and I’m incredibly pleased with the result.
“I can’t ask for any more than what I’ve seen. I’m delighted.
“The most positive thing to take away from tonight is that the squad depth is there for everyone to see. Mark Howard made a really important save as well just before we took the lead.
“Josh Austerfiled has really shown his worth this year. It has been a bit unfair for him not to have started more games, but that’s a result of the strength and depth we have. We are really happy with our squad.
“We have some wonderful and really talented players but we like to keep it very simple. We get our wide players up and try to be creative. We like our defenders to defend, or strikers to score goals and we like our midfield players to be creative, aggressive and forward-thinking.
“When it comes together, like it did against Stockport tonight, we are great.”
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