Goals from Jimmy Ryan, Ashley Hunter and Nick Haughton (x2) seal win
Fleetwood Town claimed a 4-1 win away at Salford City in their second pre-season friendly of the season.A first half strike from Jimmy Ryan set Town on their way before a brace from Nick Haughton and a wonder goal by Ashley Hunter sealed a convincing victory over the non-league outfit.
Salford pulled a goal back midway through the second period courtesy of full back Michael Nottingham but Town looked comfortable throughout.
Manager Steven Pressley used 21 players during the game, with Marcus Nilsson the only man to complete the full 90 minutes.
Speaking after the full time whistle, Pressley said: “It was a very good exercise against a very hard working team, I thought we got a lot out of the game, the most important thing for me is that we continued to gain the fitness, of course winning is important because you can breed a good mentality when you win, it is about being ready for the 6th August.
“We’ve got a programme, and we are going to follow it. It is very easy to veer away from that programme, but just now we are very determined to follow that because we believe if we do that, we’ll have the players in very good condition come the start of the season.
“I thought we had more control of the game in the first-half, all though we scored more goals in the second-half, we were probably more effective in the second-half on the counter attack, but in terms of control of the game, I thought we had more control in the first-half.
“I thought the attitude of both XI’s was very good. For strikers it is important that you get goals, they always want to get goals so their confidence can grow. Two of our strikers Nick (Haughton) and Ash (Hunter) have got goals today, and obviously Jimmy Ryan as well, getting on the scoresheet, everything like that builds the confidence, and that’s what you want, but the big thing for me is we got a good exercise today, we got a lot out of the game, and hopefully we will continue to progress.
“We’ve had two really good preparation games. The Liverpool game was fantastic for us, a great learning curve for the football club. It gives us something we all want to aspire to, there was lesson’s learned, it was a good exercise in terms of fitness, today was lesser opposition, but still a good lesson for us, especially with the amount of young players we have.
“All in all, it has been two very good opening games for us.”
The Cod Army will now jet off for Holland on Sunday morning for a week long pre-season training camp which includes three friendlies.