Conor Townsend, Jonathon Margetts, Kyle Wootton (two), Noel Burdett and Cameron Burgess were all on target, and Alexander provided his reaction to iFollow Iron after the game at the Eon Visual Media Stadium.
ON THE FRIENDLY…
GA: As well as the fitness work we’ve been doing, we’ve been providing a few reminders about the tactical side from last year. We wanted to see that out there today and we did. The first game gives you a realisation of where you really are in the fitness stakes, and getting your bearings back out on the pitch. These games are vitally important for us. I thought the players approached it in the right way. The Ferriby lads worked ever so hard as well and caused us problems, especially in the first half so it was a good first test for us. It’s important that the ideas and intent are there. We know the lads will be rusty on their crossing, finishing, etc so games like this are the starting block. It was a valuable experience for us and we’re delighted to get through it injury-free.
ON THE TEMPO…
GA: You don’t want to pick up any injuries, but you want to play at a good tempo and be competitive. We did it properly throughout the game. It was good to see the boys out there and I know they’ve been looking forward to it after the work they’ve been doing in training over the last 11 days. They always want to get to that first game and feel like a footballer again, instead of a runner!
ON LIAM TROTTER…
GA: Liam is looking to attach himself to a club this season and we are looking for central midfielders, so it’s a no-brainer really. I called him yesterday just to see how he felt about coming in and playing today, training with us next week and playing again next week too. We know of his quality, he’s played at a high level for a number of years now. It gives us a great chance to look at him close-up. Today was a real promising start with him.
ON SECOND YEAR ACADEMY PLAYERS SAM LILLEY AND GEORGE HORNSHAW PLAYING IN THE SECOND HALF…
GA: We know Sam is a centre-half for the youth team but we brought him in as cover because we weren’t too sure Charlie Goode would get through the 45 minutes. He was going to come on at half-time, but Liam fancied another 15 minutes. They did really well. George is a natural central midfielder, he gets about the pitch and knows where to be. Those two and David Allasan are training with us this week as well, and we’ll always try to progress these young players as hard as we can and as quickly as we can. The three of them this week have shown what they can do and it is good to have them involved.
ON MURRAY WALLACE, JOSH MORRIS AND SAM MANTOM MISSING OUT…
GA: They will all be training on Monday. They’ve all picked up little niggles in the last week and we didn’t want to risk them in the game today. Hopefully they will play on Wednesday.
ON THE CONTINUED SEASON PREPARATION..
GA: We will work extremely hard on Monday and Tuesday. This was part of the training programme, they have to get the recovery in themselves tonight and be bang at it on Monday morning. Every time we speak to the players and put on sessions to work hard, they always give all they’ve got and that’s why we won so many games last season.
See much more from Graham Alexander on iFollow Iron.
