They shared seven goals with Norwich City and ended up on the wrong side of the split - and Stevenage manager Alex Revell was adamant they had been hard done to in the Carabao Cup.

Twice the Championship side took the lead in the first half but twice the League One side battled back to go in at the break tied at 2-2.

It was the opening 15 minutes of the second half that proved crucial though, the Canaries scoring twice, and although an own goal on 88 minutes gave them hope, Norwich advanced into round two with a 4-3 win.

Revell was keen to point out though that his side had definitely been at the races and should have took the game to at least a penalty shoot-out, when he was asked if it was the right result. 

"No, I don't agree," he said. "I think they had a spell of 10 minutes in the second half where their individual players started to turn up and make it difficult. 

"But if you go back to chances before that, Kemp has a magnificent chance on the edge of the box at the start of the second half, made good contact and the keeper saves. 

"And in the first half, you have the same. 

"I don't agree [it was the right result]. I think we could have took that to penalties quite easily. 

"It was a really positive performance and a really proud one. 

"We showed some really exceptional moments and deserved a lot more. 

"[To keep coming back] absolutely shows the character we have, shows the belief. 

"And it shows that the players coming into the team can just step in and adapt. 

"We’re playing a shape at the moment that suits our players. 

"We'll look back at it, the goals. Some of the goals we can do better but that’s true of every goal. 

"No, but I’ve got nothing but praise. We don't like losing, that’s a fact, nobody likes losing, but there’s sometimes a way to lose. 

"And we should be happy with aspects of the performance, but not the result." 

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Charlie Goode got the first Boro goal on his debut, while Louis Appere got his first on his first start.

The performance of the former Brentford defender though really caught the eye, departing at half-time to be replaced by Dan Sweeney.

That was a planned move said the boss.  

Revell said: "Yeah, he's worked really hard and he gave 45 minutes that showed everybody what he's about and why we've brought him here. 

"He's a leader, it was a fantastic header and a fantastic delivery from Harvey White. It shows what we can do.

"So yeah, it was 45 minutes to get him ready and now we’ll get him recovered and make sure that everyone's fit and on the bus for Huddersfield."