The Notts County head coach said "Everybody knows the football we want to play - it's attacking and it's a bold way of playing at times.
"But you don't want to be a pushover. And to be successful in this league you have to be able to defend set-pieces, long balls and crosses.
"We did that very well. We are a little bit disappointed with the goal we conceded because it got the crowd behind them and they got the momentum.
"It was the first time they have had fans for nearly two years so we knew the crowd was going to be a massive influence on the game.
"But in the key moments we kept them quiet and kept the ball a little bit and took the tempo out of it and I thought we played very smart."