Monday 14 November 2011 14:35, UK
Accrington defender Tom Bender admitted the FA Cup defeat to Notts County took the shine off his first-team comeback.
The 18-year-old defender, on loan from Colchester, appeared as a second-half substitute during Saturday's 4-1 defeat at Meadow Lane for his first action since a sickening head injury forced the abandonment of Stanley's Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie with Tranmere at the start of October. "It was good to get back out there playing, it's been a while since I played, but the main thing was the result and obviously we didn't get the result," Bender told the club's official website. "We know we were nowhere near our best. In some of our performances this year we've been terrific. "The FA Cup was a good cup to try and get some money in for the club, to get on a run in this competition is always helpful. But things didn't go our way, we didn't put in the performance we needed to put in." He added: "Now our focus is the league, we haven't got any other distractions. We weren't on the best of runs in the league but we've picked up a bit so hopefully we can carry on that momentum and get some more wins."
