Fielding a much-changed team, Town eased to a 2-0 victory at Meadow Lane thanks to fine finishes from Ben Fox and Liam McCarron, the club’s first win in any cup competition in more than three years.
“We’re really pleased with the performance,” said Sampson, who was on media duties instead of Jon Brady. “We wanted to restore a bit of pride after the weekend and the players who played on the pitch tonight did really well against a difficult opponent.
“Notts County like to keep the ball and they move you about but we stuck to our task, scored two nice goals and I thought we saw it out quite comfortably.
“A win is a win and wins in this competition have been quite scarce for us so it’s about time we won a game in this competition and we’re delighted with that. Any win will help put us on the right track for the league and hopefully it creates some confidence and there’s competition for places going forward.”