Scotsman McManus scored on his Highbury debut
Graham Alexander stated that this afternoon's home draw against Southend United was a positive point for his new look side.The Cod Army boss handed debuts to no less than seven players, with a number of them impressing in front of the Highbury faithful.
Declan McManus, signed over from the summer from Aberdeen, opened the scoring with a fantastic strike on 33 minutes.
However Dave Worrall earned a point for the Shrimpers with six minutes remaining as he looped the ball into the net from the left hand side.
After the game, Alexander said: "We played some good stuff and I was disappointed we only picked up a point in the end.
"We took the lead with a fantastic strike from Declan, and we other opportunities to score too.
"Their keeper made a superb save from Bobby in the first half, Declan's hit the bar after half time and Vamara had a great chance to hit the target.
"We're disappointed we didn't extend our lead but we had to stick our tin hats on in the second half as there was a lot of balls coming into our box.
"It's not really easy to stop those kind of balls and you just have to defend them.
"They got their goal from that and took a point. It's a positive point for us on the first day of the season.
"The early signs from our young team look really good. There's little bits they need to learn when they come up to this level though.
"There were a number of players making their English league debuts today so it's great for the Club.
"To have that sort of youthful freshness come in is exciting, and they all did well."