Manager Graham Alexander was encouraged by a number of aspects during the 6-0 friendly win over SK Strobl in Austria.
He told iFollow Iron how he was pleased to see numerous things the players have been working on come to fruition during the victory, which saw Cameron Burgess, Sam Mantom, Hakeeb Adelakun, Josh Morris, Paddy Madden and Kevin van Veen on the scoresheet.
ON THE GAME…
GA: It was a really good workout for us. I was impressed by SK Strobl. They had a lot of young players with good movement and technique. I thought our players were stronger and quicker but they made us move and work hard. We communicated and defended well at times, and scored some good goals. It was a good one for us because the players have worked extremely hard, doing four sessions a day up to today. You have to make sure the opponent is the right one for this stage, and I was impressed with the approach from our players. They went about it the right way and we look forward to Friday’s game now.
ON THE GOALS BEING SPREAD OUT…
GA: It’s something we’ve tried to instil over the last season or so, that we spread the goals all over the team. I feel that gives you more chance of success over a longer period. It was good to see goals from our forward players, and Cameron (Burgess) scoring again from a set-piece. I was impressed with the mental side all the way through, and we took what we’ve been doing in training into the game.
ON SOME PLAYERS GETTING 90 MINUTES…
GA: We want to manage the group as best we can. We know we don’t need to peak now, we need to peak in three weeks’ time. The squad is a little imbalanced at the moment because we have two central midfielders and a lot of forwards. Some had to play 90 minutes, which isn’t ideal, but they’re fit boys and I’m delighted with everyone’s approach. The subs who came on carried on the performance, which was excellent to see.
ON THE REST OF THE WEEK…
GA: We’re here to work, but we look after the players in-between the sessions to make sure they’re at the maximum energy level for the next session. It’s gone well so far this week and we’re looking forward to a positive second half of the week.
See much more from Graham Alexander on iFollow Iron.