Dereham assistant boss Neal Simmons praises Magpies’ resolve against Norwich City

Magpies' assistant boss Neal Simmons was pleased with the Ryman League North club's performance against the Canaries.

'I'm absolutely delighted with the way we applied ourselves,' said Simmons, who was in charge in manager Matt Henman's absence. 'We got everything we could out of the game and the players all worked unbelievably hard. There were obviously nerves early on with the magnitude of the game and the amount of people in the ground.

'But the boys got comfortable, they didn't feel out of place and I think that showed in the way we played.'

The Magpies handed debuts to James Hadley and Matt Hockley.

'Both Hadley and Hockley have trained extremely hard; neither of them has missed a session since we started at the back of June and I think that was shown in their performances,' he said. 'A lot of the boys have worked really, really hard and now we have to make sure this is the standard for the rest of pre-season and throughout the season.'

The Magpies have made five signings so far and Simmons is happy with how the squad is shaping up ahead of next season.

He added: 'The squad isn't quite complete, but I wouldn't be disappointed if it was now. There is potential for players to come in, if the right players become available, but at the moment we are delighted with the balance if it.'

• Next up for the Magpies is a trip to Thurlow Nunn Premier Division Fakenham Town on Wednesday night, with Simmons in charge again.