Northern Ireland star wanted to lead from the front after scoring twice as League One side narrowly miss out on Nottingham Forest FA Cup shock

Bangor-born Magennis has taken on captaincy at the League One outfit after joining from Wigan Athletic last summer and led from the front in Tuesday’s thriller with Forest, putting Exeter ahead after only five minutes.

The 34-year-old also drew his side level at 2-2 in the second half and rifled home his penalty in the shootout, but 10-man Exeter ultimately lost 4-2 on spot-kicks.

Exeter hadn’t won any of their last eight league fixtures ahead of their clash against a Forest side who currently sit third in England’s top-flight, but Magennis hopes they can use the positive performance as “a catalyst” for the rest of this season.

"It's the magic of the cup and these are the types of nights you live for,” he told ITV. “It was a fantastic match from both ends.

"Maybe going down to 10 men killed the game and the momentum, but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

"I've been trusted to be the captain of the team and I felt it was my responsibility to step forward and set the tone. I said to the lads 'if you're going to miss, make sure you hit the target' and that's what we did. There were a lot of nerves.

"We were under no illusions that they are a fantastic team, especially in transition with how fast they are, so we wanted to put them on the back foot.

"We managed to do that but they aren't third in the Premier League for no reason - they are a quality side and they showed that with being clinical."