Town’s Capital One Cup campaign came to an early end as they were defeated 2-0 at Stevenage. The home side went in front via a Filipe Morais penalty in the 50th minute, then Jordan Burrow sealed it with 15 minutes to go.

Boss Mick McCarthy handed Frederic Veseli, Christophe Berra and Dean Gerken their Blues debuts in a side featuring six changes, while up front Paul Taylor made his first start in 11 months, alongside Frank Nouble.

Paul Anderson made his first start for Town having been a sub at Reading. Youngsters Kyle Hammond and Amir Berkane were amongst the senior subs for the first time in a competitive match.

With Aaron Cresswell (thigh) and Tyrone Mings (knee) out injured, former Stevenage loanee Tommy Smith switched to left-back.

Stevenage were forced into a late change when keeper Chris Day twisted his ankle in the warm-up. Steve Arnold took over.

Frank Nouble struck the game’s first serious shot in the seventh minute after exchanging passes with Jay Tabb, but the ball deflected behind.

From the corner, Christophe Berra came closer to opening the scoring, the debutant heading Tabb’s deep ball into the box goalwards only for Sam Wedgbury to nod off the line. From the subsequent flagkick, Cole Skuse almost found Berra with a header back across goal.

Stevenage should have gone in front in the 14th minute when former Arsenal youngster Luke Freeman crossed from the right and an unmarked Oumare Tounkara headed over from six yards when he should have scored.

Darius Charles’s overhead kick bounced harmlessly wide in the 21st minute after Stevenage skipper had headed Freeman’s corner from the right back across goal. The League One side were looking the more dangerous team with Town largely pinned back in their half.

There was an uncomfortable moment for Gerken in the 26th minute when a bouncing ball was left to him by his defenders. Tounkara challenged and the keeper dropped the ball but referee Gavin Ward blew his whistle for a foul.

Taylor, who had spent much of the half dropping deep and picking the ball up in the middle of midfield, scuffed a shot well wide in the 29th minute with the Blues continuing to make little headway.

Town were forced into a change in the 35th minute after Tabb succumbed to a shoulder injury he had suffered earlier on in the half. Skipper Edwards took over in his usual right midfield role with Anderson switching to the left.

On 40, Taylor wasn’t too far away with a shot from the edge of the box which ruffled the sidenetting. Soon after, Gerken was forced into a sharp save from Morais Filipe after the midfielder had cut in from the left after beating Veseli, who moments earlier looked to have been suffering with a knock.

Town again threatened again in the 41st minute, Hyam exchanging passes with Nouble before hitting a low shot across goal which Edwards just couldn’t reach at the far post.

The Blues were finishing the half strongly and in the 44th minute Edwards crossed low from the right but Wedgbury stabbed the ball behind ahead of Nouble.

Town continued to look dangerous as the half moved towards three minutes of injury time, Taylor unleashing a powerful strike from the edge of the box which keeper Arnold did well to push round the post.

The Blues had gradually got on top towards the end of a half in which both sides had had chances to go in front. Boro’s had probably had the better of it with Tounkara likely to feel he should have done a lot better with his header.

Freeman curled a freekick wide in the opening minute of the second period, then Anderson swept a superb ball wide to Edwards on the right, but the Trinidadian’s cross flew beyond Nouble. Moments later, the ex-Wolves man headed another Edwards cross over.

In the 50th minute Stevenage were awarded a penalty after Luke Hyam tripped Tounkara just inside the box. There seemed to be little serious argument prior to Morais slamming the kick to Gerken’s right and into the net.

The Blues switched strikers Taylor and Nouble for David McGoldrick and Daryl Murphy on 55 and three minutes later the former Forest man forced Arnold into a save to his left after he was found in space on the edge of the area by Hyam. Soon after, Anderson was booked for a foul.

The substitutions seemed to have woken Town up and in the 68th minute Skuse scuffed a shot towards goal. The ball was half-cleared and McGoldrick sent in a cross from the right which Wedgbury put out of play ahead of Murphy.

From the corner, the ball eventually reached Anderson on the edge of the box and his shot flew just wide. At the other end, Gerken was off his line to claim ahead of Tounkara on the edge of his area.

Stevenage made it 2-0 in the 75th minute. Sub Robert Shroot crossed from the right and Jordan Burrow stabbed home from a few feet.

McGoldrick hit a freekick from 25 yards straight into the wall, then as the game moved into its final five minutes struck a shot on the turn which Arnold saved down to his left.

With a minute of scheduled time to go and with Berra having joined the attack, Arnold did superbly to save at the far post with Smith looking certain to score. As the game moved into added-on time, Anderson’s deflected shot was easy for the keeper, who made a number of impressive stops.

As time ran out for the Blues, Edwards sent a dangerous ball across the box but no Town player was on hand to add the final touch, then from a Skuse cross Berra headed to Arnold.

A Stevenage victory was a fair result on the balance of the game, the home side having been largely on top aside from a spell towards the end of the first half and after the first Boro goal.

Town gave the ball away too easily and too often, while a determined Stevenage side never allowed them time on the ball.

Despite having made six changes to the team which lost at Reading at the weekend, Mick McCarthy is likely to be less than impressed that his fringe players failed to get the better of a League One side and exited the Capital One Cup at such an early stage, while Jay Tabb's injury is an addition concern for the Blues boss.

Stevenage: Arnold, Wedgbury, Hills, Ashton, Morais (Shroot 73), Charles, Burrow (Jones 90), Heslop, Freeman, Tansey, Tounkara (Haber 73). Unused: Day, Akins, N'Guessen, Deacon.

Town: Gerken, Veseli, Chambers, Berra, Smith, Anderson, Skuse, Hyam, Tabb (Edwards 35), Taylor (McGoldrick 55), Nouble (Murphy 55). Unused: Loach, Hewitt, Hammond, Berkane. Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey). Att:

Photo: Action Images

mkw79 added 23:00 - Aug 6 Blue feast, I agree with your comments, my point was that cup games always are always tough because smaller teams have nothing to lose and can play with freedom, other than that i agree with your comments. As for sirmichaelmills, if micks budget was as big as the chip on your shoulder, we would have signed Bale, falcao and suarez!!!
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King_ding_a_lin_g added 23:02 - Aug 6 Cheshire_Blue... spot on. What happened to playing your strongest team in every match? Everyone is going on about how many new additions we have, well the first team won't gel if they don't play together consistently.
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BigAlsMate added 23:02 - Aug 6 Well, everyone who was getting so excited just a couple of weeks ago, saying we were nailed on for play offs/promotion etc .... are you all still feeling so optimistic? Simply just not good enough! Evans: Give McCarthy some real money to spend, or we are looking at another season of struggle and lower reaches mediocrity yet again, and the prospect of losing the best manager we've had in years

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HackneyBlue added 23:16 - Aug 6 Just got back from a very poor game of football,no stand out players,Hyam,Nouble,vaselli,Anderson all very poor,a lot of high balls to nouble who failed to win anything,poor challenge for penalty,poor defending for second.It needs to improve dramatically and very soon.
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itfc_price added 23:45 - Aug 6 first of all Veseli and Berra were absolutely awful, looked out of depth playing against a league 1 team, long balls over the top time after time again, but they were not working. Cresswell get back quickly, need you in defence as your the only one who can actually cross. Nouble was looked lazy, sluggish and disinterested. Just a general bad performance from the team tonight, It wasn't exactly a weak team either.. It's only the Capital One Cup, yes, it would be nice to have a decent run, but league is more important !! :)

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peteswindon added 23:53 - Aug 6 looks like its going to be another long long season
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martleshamitfc added 00:15 - Aug 7 Stearman is not playing for wolves? any clues anyone? we could really do with him I think.
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PunchNoHopers added 00:28 - Aug 7 Went tonight, was disappointed by all the changes even though it was a cup game, although I realise some were forced. However have been so optimistic so far and the first half I thought we did enough but the second half was worrying, we were sadly lacking in everything after Taylor and Nouble were substituted and we looked tired and jaded, it was a poor performance IMO! Hopefully we can turn it around on Saturday, as a win breeds confidence.

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Sindre94 added 00:31 - Aug 7 This makes it 10 games in a row for me without a win. Sorry folks but Im not back here until Yeovil and Wigan so might pick up a few before that. I obviously bring bad luck. Good atmosphere tho COYB
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Walk_the_Wark added 00:34 - Aug 7 MM is a waste of space..end of
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martleshamitfc added 00:41 - Aug 7 peteswindon - yep another 45 games + 1 more fa cup game? lol
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chepstowblue added 02:13 - Aug 7 This ridiculous modern myth that the cups arent important eats away at me. Started by the snobby clubs in the champs lge its now filtering down to mediocre championship sides like ourselves. The arrogance of some of our fans at the game 2nite was astonishing,mocking the home club for the size of their ground and lack of resources,too bad we couldnt match them for commitment and goals,Ref didnt have a great game but to blame the defeat on him instead of our own ineptitude was also laughable. Very angry at many aspects of this evening.We have 18-20 players who in the 1st 2 games of the season have yet to prove why they should be picked for saturday, so calling tonights 11 the reserves appears an incredibly lame excuse. Time to man up ITFC and attempt to live up to the hyped expectations i had 4 days ago.

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airliner added 05:40 - Aug 7 Panic is setting in. This team plainly is not playing as a team yet. The way you gain promotion is to gel as a team, its not just one player who singlehandedly wins the league. We really are looking thin on the ground with these injuries. Dare I say but looks like we are short of a midfield general and a standout striker
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sotd78 added 06:52 - Aug 7 Not good enough. Remember the fun we had going to the Emirates. Getting there involves first beating the lower league teams. Splash some cash Evans before this season heads the same way as the last six...
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blueherts added 07:42 - Aug 7 All about Saturday and we will win - and be up and running - yes we were poor but we have a better team than last year
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BrandonsBlues added 07:45 - Aug 7 Ten new players, some injuries, same old poor performances. Anyone know how many tickets expected for Millwall, could be the biggest gate of the season, especially if we lose. Depth but no strength I'm afraid Mick. Cant see any fighting for positions, just replacements for injury. Any explanation from the Town why so many injuries early on? Training issues? Can anyone also tell me how our league position correlates with our progress in the league cup, if we win the first round or even 2nd do we do better in the league, just a thought.

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ntoms97 added 08:14 - Aug 7 Prefer to be dead in the cup than in the league
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sucrePB1 added 08:45 - Aug 7 typical town fans. 'our season starts on saturday against millwall now' how long will this last. WRONG our season started last saturday against reading where we were outplayed and beaten. 2 games in 2 defeats! surely were gunna get into the play off though? wrong again
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robbo123 added 09:00 - Aug 7 Is anyone else slightly concerned at Nouble being our 3rd/ 4th choice option up front? I appreciate he puts himself about and his young etc but i really wasn't impressed with him against what should have been an inferior defence to what we will be facing week in week out. The header that almost went for a throw in really summed his performance up..... Paul Taylor did look sharp however and i think he will be crucial to adding some creativity as the season goes on as i worry that Hyam and Skuse although very solid lack the creative spark that we will need against championship teams

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TractorCam added 09:58 - Aug 7 One of the worst performances i've ever watched. Defence were very poor, hopefully all sorted by saturday.
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BillBlue added 10:07 - Aug 7 airliner - The reason the team aren't playing together as a team is because of the needless number of substitutions during the preseason warm ups (for which I got 25 negatives when I criticised it) and again last night, they have not been given a chance to get to know each other. I now hope MM has the bottle to take a leaf out of BR's book and put Smith back in the left CB position, where he is a rock, play young October at left back with Marriott up front with either Drury or Taylor supporting him. Only this week he said "If they are good enough they are old enough" so let him now back up that statement.

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Bergholtblue added 10:16 - Aug 7 An unlucky loss against an Ex-Prem side followed by a predictable defeat against a physical L1 side, then its all come back Lee Martin all is forgiven. Jeez I didn't realise it had got so bad in so short a period of time.
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Lowestoft_Tractorboy added 11:07 - Aug 7 Long reader of TWTD but first time user first post coming up! Its good to concentrate on the league but a poor cup result against lower league opposition with a team filled with either first team players or those in contention for it can be very detrimental on league form ad exacebates the pressure on saturdays game!
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Jimmyonthewing added 11:27 - Aug 7 My (Palace supporter) brother in law texted me this 'I thought Stevenage was just a train station LOL'. As if the visit to Selhurst last season wasn't embarrassing enough ! Please please make it a bit more pleasurable to be a Tractor boy this season I've had enough of squirming. This was something we'd all rather forget but come on, dumped out early 3 years on the trot by lower league. Not good.

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TractorCam added 11:30 - Aug 7 Billblue - Drury has left us...
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