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Hakan Hayrettin pointed to lessons learned from Martin O’Neill as Maidstone bounced back from their FA Cup exit.
Hayrettin played under O’Neill when the legendary Northern Irishman took Wycombe Wanderers into the Football League in the early 1990s.
O’Neill would go on to win two League Cups at Leicester and numerous trophies with Celtic, also taking charge of Aston Villa, Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland.
There was a running theme throughout his career - honed at Wycombe - with O’Neill big on discipline.
It rubbed off on Hayrettin which is why he was so frustrated with the manner of Maidstone’s FA Cup exit on penalties at Wimborne last Tuesday night.
It was a tie they had control of, only to lose a 2-1 lead in the dying seconds of injury time.
They put things right with a 4-1 National League South win over Hemel Hempstead on Saturday and Hayrettin hopes lessons have been learned.
He said: “I wasn’t happy with the finish on Tuesday night because I’m a great believer that how good a team you are is when you haven’t got the ball.
“I’ve always said that, that’s what I was brought up on.
“I played for Martin O’Neill at Wycombe and at certain times of the game, if I went into a certain area of the pitch, he’d let me have it and say, ‘get back, you’ve got to play with a bit of discipline here, the team comes first’ and that’s what I was so disappointed with on Tuesday night.
“The game should have been done and dusted by then.
"We should have put the ball into Row Z when we had the chance and we’d be coming home 2-1 winners.
“The players wanted to put it right.
"It wasn’t even a rollicking, it was more a conversation, because I think we’ve got a squad who are capable of doing well this year and I’m keen to keep everyone on their toes in a good way.
“I learned very early on with Martin that discipline was a big factor in what he did and how we played.
“You’d never see a team of his go gung-ho and try and score five or six.
“If they’re in control of the game he wants it to stay that way and be in their control whether they’re going to win it or lose it.
“Same with John Still and no different to me. I think I’ve done over 600 games now and I’m no different to that. That sort of stuff stays with you.”
