The wait for Paul Tisdale's first win as Stevenage manager goes on but there was still plenty for him to be pleased with at Salford City.

A Jordan Turnbull goal proved the only difference in a 1-0 win at Moor Lane but after declaring after last week's loss at home to Carlisle United that the Boro post "was the hardest job in football", he was at least partly smiling after the loss.

"No football job is easy," he said. "There is always a team on the other side [of the pitch] who want to beat you and want to win as well.

"You have to ask everyone around to put themselves in a position to get a result.

"Every week is difficult but we’ll stick with it and you have to love the tough days.

"The tough days are the best days because they give you clarity about what needs done to march on.

"I’m absolutely devastated we got nothing from this.

"I saw an energised side, a competitive side and a different one on the dressing room afterwards, one that was cross they didn’t get anything from it.

"Our performance, right the way through the game, was very good but it got better and better and it reflected what was necessary.

"And as a manager or a supporter watching your team, I saw them act and think and play the way that reflected the moment, being a goal down and needing to get something.

"The ball didn’t go in the net but we kept going right to the end, gave nothing at the other end and kept going forward.

"I feel motivated by what I saw and what they did. It gives me a lot of heart."

Despite being a goal down, Boro were on the front foot in the second half and the boss believes only the desperation to score prevented them from claiming a deserved point.

He said: "There were two or three wonderful opportunities in the second half where it probably needed a deep breath and one more pass but we snatched at a shot.

"But we’re trying so hard and I like that fact.

"Our performance was what was needed, it wasn’t perfect, but we deserved to get something out of it."


There was also praise for fist-year scholar Owen Cochrane, thrust into action as defenders like LutherJames-Wildin and Terence Vancooten were ruled out.

Tisdale said: "I’m not sure when the rest of the squad met Owen, I met him on the way up [on Friday] on the M6.

"He did extremely well. The first thing we said after the game, before anything else, was well done to the young man for playing such a competent game and being able to cope mentally.

"He did a really good job.

"We only took him off at the end because I didn’t want him to break down with cramp in his first game.

"We lost three or four players in the last 48 hours with COVID cases and we have got to be nimble to get the games played.

"There’s no excuses from us. We had a team on that pitch good enough to get a result."