Butler pleased with pre-season output as week two comes to a close

Following the Iron’s 4-2 pre-season victory over Cleethorpes Town, there were a lot of elements to be pleased about, according to first team manager Andy Butler.

United twice trailed, equalising through Kian Scales and Alfie Beestin, before goals from Oli Ewing and Danny Whitehall sealed the win at the Linden Club.

Speaking after the game, Butler said: “We pick these games for a reason. We obviously played Cleethorpes in the Lincs Cup Final last season, and it was a tough game, so we knew what we were going to get this afternoon.

“It was a tough physical game, which hopefully wakes a few of the lads up with one-v-one duals and some tough physical challenges. It was a good game, and I really enjoyed it. Cleethorpes will do well in their division this year; they’ve got a good manager with good staff, so for us it was a really good runout.”

Goalkeeper Maison Campbell and centre-half pairing Will Evans and Andrew Boyce all completed the entirety of the game, while a number of players all got vital match minutes, including the first time back on grass for Mark Beck and Callum Roberts, with Butler hailing another worthwhile exercise.

“There were a couple of 90 minutes in there for a few of the players, which is early, but it’s good to get them in,” he continued. 

“The lads can take a lot out of that today in terms of fitness levels, and you can see the rest of the lads have been out doing some running. Regardless of the result, there were some good performances.

“We’re still building. We’ve not done any one-v-one dualling yet, so in terms of short, sharp work we’ve not done any work on that yet, it’s been about getting the distances into the legs again. This week, the lads have probably done about 50km, so they’re putting the hard work in. Sometimes that does affect performances in pre-season, but we’re doing that to put them under strain. They have to go through the hard times, to get the rewards at the end.

“We’ve got players who can score goals, and we’ve recruited players that are exciting. Dubes (Eze) is a threat one-v-one, and I thought there were a lot of good performances today, especially in the heat as well, as it takes a lot to run in this heat.

“We got through the game unscathed. A couple had a bit of cramp, Kian (Scales) whacked his shin on their lads shinpad, so overall it was pleasing, and we get back to work again on Monday.”

Reflecting on the two weeks so far, and looking ahead to ramping it up again in week three, Butler acknowledged there is more to work on, but affirmed he is happy with how pre-season has progressed so far.

“There’s loads to improve on. It’s a tight knit group in there again, and the lads seem that little bit fitter this year, which is a credit to themselves and a credit to the work that Ash and Rosie get into them,” he said. 

“I’m pleased so far, but can we keep improving? Of course we can! There’s a long way to go, and that’s why our next few games will be challenging; Alfreton, Gainsborough to come this week, and neither will be easy games.

“Week three is the more intense week, so they will be tired this week, and they will be leggy. There will be a lot of short, sharp stuff to come this week, and two games amongst it as well. It’ll get harder and harder for the players, and there’s no rest-bite.”