Sandbach United 6 -1 Foley Meir

“Today’s game gave us a chance to see how last season’s formation would work with the players that we have now. We looked a threat, especially in the second half when played with a more pacey front three, compared to the first half when we had people who could hold the ball up. The manor of the first goal was disappointing, however the back four have not really played much together. We were without Kieran O’Connell & Kris Stockton who have both picked up knocks prior to the game, however this allowed us to see play Liam Kettle, who has been with us before, we were also able to drop Chris Rowntree back in there. It is good to see what we have options in that position now too. Ideally, we could do with our full backs being fitter, especially with the system we want to play.

There are a number of players who are still to come into the side, however they’re also recovering from knocks, so we don’t to rush them back. We know that the patterns of play that we are trying to get them to play will take a while to come into fruition, however it was good to see some of it today, we had spells were we played some really good football. We were forced to change the formation to suit the personnel that we had towards the end of the game, but this worked well and it gives us food for thought in the future”

A lot of hard work has gone into improving the facility during the off season, I asked Hockenhull just how much of an advantage it gives his side going into that season “is a thing it puts us under pressure. The work that has gone on has been fantastic, so when people turn up for the first time this season they’re going to think it’s a totally different place, so we need to have a football team that is going to suit that facility and ultimately push for promotion, so we have our work cut out but we’re definitely doing it in the right way"