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Archived News from July 2016

MURRAY AND PHIL PARKINSON REACTION
21st July 2016 17:40



Murray praises players after Bolton test
mansfieldtown.net, 16th July 2016

Stags’ boss Adam Murray believes his side were presented with a different challenge in today’s 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers in comparison to their previous pre-season fixtures.

First half goals from new striker Danny Rose and defender Krystian Pearce were enough for Murray’s men against their superior opponents, despite Zach Clough’s second half consolation for the Trotters.

And the Stags’ chief was pleased with how his side coped with the threat of Wanderers, after facing lower league opposition in their previous four pre-season friendlies.

“It was exactly what we expected and we got out of it what we set out to get out of it. I think our shape was tested at times, which we wanted, we were put under stress at times, which we wanted," Murray said.

Read more at http://www.mansfieldtown.net/news/article/2016-17/murray-praises-players-after-bolton-test-3189365.aspx#JZAGBARJXPZqiCbD.99

“There’s a few bits and bobs that we wanted to see answered or questions that we can work on, on the training ground. With all due respect with the opponents we’ve had up to now, we probably haven’t got them.

“I think we’ve probably had 70 or 80 percent possession in the previous games so we haven’t really been tested defensively and we came under some pressure today but I thought the boys did really well for the first real pre-season test.

“We’ve been working long days so to get the performance they put out today was really pleasing.”

Left-back Mal Benning was substituted just before half-time against the Trotters after going down with an injury and the manager admitted after the match that he doesn’t want his players to take any unnecessary risks before the season starts.

“Obviously the concern for us with a small squad [is that] we have to be careful about over-stressing people so we go again [on] Tuesday.

“The results at the minute don’t really matter to us, we just want to see the performances and make sure we get a clean bill of health. We’ve got a couple of twinges but we’ve said to the boys that any risk, get yourself off. We can’t afford to risk silly things so we go again tomorrow.”

And although Murray began the match with a strong side for today’s match, he said that there’s still ‘a lot of shirts up for grabs’ for the season opener against Newport County on 06 August.

“We’ve got people that didn’t start the game today that will be fighting for that starting 11 at Newport and at the minute, I said to the players the other day, even though we’re quite a small squad, it’s a tough position for me at the minute because I’ve actually got 20 players that are fighting to start in that 11 so we’re looking at little bits and bobs.

“If I was a supporter or someone that worked in the media, I wouldn’t read into any of that team selection.”

Supporters can view Adam Murray’s post-match interview on Stags PlayerHD.

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Adam Murray delighted with Bolton Wanderers test
chad.co.uk, by Stephen Thirkill, Saturday 16 July 2016

Boss Adam Murray says he is happy with the defensive test his side received in Mansfield Town’s 2-1 win over Bolton Wanderers.

First half goals from Danny Rose and Krystian Pearce laid the foundations for an impressive win.

But Murray was more delighted with his side standing firm than with the actual result itself.

“It was a tough game, it was what we expected and we got out of it what we wanted,” said Murray.

http://www.chad.co.uk/news/adam-murray-delighted-with-bolton-wanderers-test-1-8018123

“Our shape was tested at times, which we wanted, we were put under stress at times, which we wanted.

“There were a few bits and bobs that we wanted to see answered, or questions that we can work on on the training ground.

“With all due respect to the opponents we have had up to now, we probably haven’t had the questions.

“We’ve probably had 70 to 80 per cent possession in the previous games so we have not been tested defensively and we came under some pressure today. I thought the boys did well in our first big pre-season test.

“The results don’t really matter to us, we just want to see the performances and make sure we get a clean bill of health.

And Murray says he is also delighted with the increased intensity levels during the current pre-season campaign.

“These last three weeks have probably been double the intensity of this time last year,” said Murray.

“The boys have gone into it probably a bit mentaly and physically fatigued, they have been working some long days so to get the performance they gave today, I was really pleased.

“We have worked hard and we do a lot of practical work, when you see things coming together on a matchday you start to believe and trust it works.

“It is just a little step on a long journey, obviously the concern for us would be the small squad and we have to be careful.

“We have said to the boys if there is any risk then get yourselves off, we can’t afford to take risks.

“Even though we have got a small squad it is a really tough position for me, I’ve got 20 players that are fighting to start against Newport.

“We have got three weeks left before the season starts, there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of shirts up for grabs.”

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In his own words: Phil Parkinson post-Mansfield Town
by @OfficialBWFC

Post-game quotes from the manager following Wanderers' narrow friendly defeat to the Stags
Manager Phil Parkinson spoke to Wanderers’ official YouTube channel following his side’s 2-1 pre-season defeat away at Mansfield Town on Saturday.

http://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/in-his-own-words-phil-parkinson-post-mansfield-town-3189943.aspx?

The hosts held a two-goal lead at half time at the One Call Stadium, with Zach Clough’s strike halving the deficit.

And offering up his thoughts on the game following the final whistle in Mansfield, Parkinson covered the following points

On the team’s performance throughout the game
It was a lackadaisical start from us in the first 15 minutes and it’s proved costly. Any team who starts as poorly as we did and who gives the opposition a two goal start, it’s always going to be difficult.

We’ve got to learn from that, pre-season or no pre-season - people will say that results don’t matter, but the start of games are a big part of football and they started better than us today.

Second half, I thought we started better and got back into the game. I just said to the lads that as a team, one who came down last year, we were behind at half time in a lot of games last season, so it was important that we showed the response that we did.

We managed to get the goal back, but then we made wholesale changes as we had planned. We were better in the second period, but we need to make sure that we don’t give ourselves an uphill task in future games.

The centre-backs and defenders have got to spread a mentality throughout the team, especially away from home. The first header and the first challenge is always important and I felt that we were second best in that period and we have to learn from that.

As a group of staff, we don’t like losing in training, so we’re definitely not going to be happy with getting beat in a pre-season friendly.

It’s a big learning curve for myself, looking at how the team plays and the shapes we’ve used so far to ultimately find the formula which will allow us to win games.

On the absence of Rob Holding
Rob’s got tight hamstring - it’s nothing serious and he was running towards the back end of the week and he’ll train fully on Monday.

On the younger players who featured…
I’m really pleased for the younger lads who got their opportunity towards the end of the game. Since I arrived, it’s been clear to see that the young players at this football club have got very good attitudes and it was good to give them the chance today.

On Max Clayton’s impact since his return from injury…
With Max, we’ve got to take it gradually with him after he’s been out for so long. His attitude has been very, very good though - he’s a dangerous player in and around the opposition penalty box and Zach Clough, he produced an excellent finish and showed what he’s capable of.

What we need to do as a team though is find a way to get him into more of those positions because he’s a key player for us and an excellent finisher.

On the remainder of pre-season, starting with Tuesday’s trip to Tranmere
It’ll definitely be another good test for the lads. We’ll go into that game having learnt from today, while the lads who didn’t start this afternoon will get their opportunity because we need to get minutes in all the lads’ legs as we approach the last few weeks of pre-season.

There is a lot of work still to be done though as everybody can see, while the fitness aspect of it is always crucial. A lot of the lads have done 60 minutes today, while some went a little longer.

We’ve come away from today with no injuries though which is a positive for us and we look forward to seeing the lads back in training this week.

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twitter
Ashley Hemmings @AshHemmo23
Nice run out today, good to get them minutes in an play at the home stadium.

jamiemcguire23
Good 2-1 result against Bolton lads looking strong X

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