Malcolm Dawson writes….this was Dick’s last chance pre-season to give what will probably be his first choice eleven a run out against decent opposition. I elected to go and see Crook Town against Blyth Town but got back in time to see the last 45 minutes of the jolly green giants on You Tube – except our giantest giant was in a charcoal grey number. Jeremain Lens took his chance well, winning the ball just outside of their area and rifling home a shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards. O’Shea gave away a penalty by allowing an attacker to run into him and fall over but justice was done when TGP dived to his left and saved not once but twice, blocking the follow up shot after his initial save in the 90th minute. So we got a win but I can’t say that I saw anything in the 45 minutes I watched to get my heart racing before my trip to Leicester. Dick shows mixed feelings in his post match e-mail and I expect, like me he is hoping the Wickham deal goes through so that a couple more new faces can be brought in to freshen up the squad.
Dear Colin,
It was a fair result in what was another game away from home. The positives were that the team worked very hard to get that result and a lot of players played 90 minutes in warm conditions.
Overall I was pleased with what we brought but we also know that we need to bring more than we did today. It is important to remember that we have another away game against Leicester City next week, but this result will give us confidence because it was better than Wednesday [against Doncaster].
We’ve had a lot training sessions during pre-season and the players had to get used to it, but they did and they’re a very positive group.
I have to be fair to them because they always work hard in training and I cannot complain; there are still some things that we need to improve but they understand that and we will do so.
Thanks for your support,
Dick Advocaat
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