OWEN Coyle praised a ‘positive reaction’ from his Blackburn Rovers side as they bounced back from their opening day Championship defeat to record a 3-1 EFL Cup win at Mansfield Town.

A brace from new signing Anthony Stokes either side of Shane Duffy’s first goal of the season secured Rovers’ first victory in the competition since 2011 and eased the pain of Saturday’s 4-1 home loss to Norwich City.

Mansfield had passed up the opportunity to take a second-minute lead when CJ Hamilton failed to punish Duffy’s weak pass.

But the Stags, buoyed by kicking off their League Two campaign with a 3-2 success at Newport County, did raise fears of an upset when Mitchell Rose cancelled out Stokes’ first-half opener.

However two quickfire strikes settled the first-round tie and the final outcome could have been greater with Scott Shearer with making a trio of saves from Ben Marshall and one from substitute Liam Feeney.

Stokes, having earlier struck with his right foot and head, was also denied a ‘perfect’ hat-trick when a left-footed effort bounced down off the crossbar and was adjudged not to have crossed the line.

Coyle, who reported no fresh injuries, said: “Overall I was delighted. I’ve been there as a favourite and as an underdog and cup ties are always tricky games.

“Mansfield came off a very good result at the weekend, and a very good performance when we watched it, so we knew it was going to be a difficult game.

“We gave them an early chance with a slack back pass but I felt we controlled the game and looked dangerous every time we went forward.

“We allowed them back into it in the second half, although it was a great header from the lad, but for us it was avoidable.

Lancashire Telegraph:

“But our reaction was great, we’ve scored three goals and truth be told we could have had five or six. Anthony Stokes could have finished with the perfect hat-trick. I don’t if it was over the line or not but it certainly looked close to it.

“When we took control and passed and moved it we showed we are a good side. It was good to show a positive reaction from the weekend when we all knew that we didn’t get anywhere near the level.

“The important thing was we did have a positive reaction in what was always going to be a tricky game. To come and show the attitude and the work-rate we did, and some of the quality of our play, was good to see.

“If we can get one or two more bodies in we know we’ll have a decent team. We have players who can score goals and we have a creative nucleus to our team but we have to make sure we’re tighter at the back and we’re not giving up chances because there are some very good teams in the Championship.

“We saw one on Saturday who were ruthless and punished us for every mistake that we made. But I thought this was a great reaction from the players and it was great to reward the travelling fans who took nearly two-and-a-half hours to get here.”

The draw for the second round takes place after the tie between Luton Town and Aston Villa tonight.

Rovers will be one of 25 seeded sides in the 50-team draw.

Seeded teams are the 13 sides from Premier League who enter the competition at this stage, Newcastle Utd and Norwich City, plus the next 10 highest finishing teams from last season.