BORO boss Mark Stimson was full of praise for his side despite losing at home to in-form Dagenham at Broadhall Way on Saturday. Stimson was far from despondent and then had the satisfaction of seeing Boro claim a FA Cup fourth qualifying round home clash

BORO boss Mark Stimson was full of praise for his side despite losing at home to in-form Dagenham at Broadhall Way on Saturday.

Stimson was far from despondent and then had the satisfaction of seeing Boro claim a FA Cup fourth qualifying round home clash with fellow Conference outfit Forest Greeen who claimed a 3-3 draw on Boro turf earlier in the season.

"I was very pleased with our performance. The team played very well," said Stimson this week.

"We were playing a side who are second in the league and they are flying high and doing well so we expected a hard game.

"But at the end of the day when you analysed our performance I couldn't find a lot wrong.

"In every department we performed well and matched them.

"They had two chances and tucked them away and we didn't have their kind of luck.

"But the players worked very hard and fought for every ball so we didn't lose through lack of effort on the pitch.

"In fact I would say the game was our biggest test so far."

The home cup tie against Forest Green also pleased Stimson who added: "Any draw at home in the cup is good news and hopefully we will be able to beat Forest Green this time.

"Our side is more settled now and I would love Stevenage to have a good FA Cup run and hopefully get through to the third round and bring one of the big guns here to Broadhall Way."

There was good news for Stimson this week when Dale Binns finally pulled on a shirt to play a competitive game for Boro.

Binns has been sidelined all season with a knee injury and was due to be in the starting line-up for Boro reserves in their game gainst Southend at Broadhall Way yesterday (Wednesday).

"He has worked so hard to get fit again and is without doubt the fastest player at the club," said Stimson.