Potters visit completes pre-season schedule
Three weeks after it all started with a home game against their cross-city rivals Port Vale, it’s time for the Potters to come to us – a match which completes our pre-season schedule.
It would be fair to say that it’s been a mixed bag. Three wins, three losses, fourteen goals scored, fifteen conceded. So, what have we learnt?
Speaking at the Metro Bank One Day Cup cricket game between Nottinghamshire and his beloved Sussex in Mansfield yesterday, the gaffer Neil Baker was in a positive mood. “It’s been good to get a full pre-season in with the lads.
“Of course, trying to play a series of matches in July presents its own difficulties in terms of people being away on holidays and so on, but it’s also meant plenty of opportunities to players we’ve been potentially looking at bringing in.”
The last of those opportunities is tomorrow as Stoke City’s U-21s come to Buckmaster Avenue for a rare Sunday 2pm kick off, a match that Neil knows will provide another stern test for his players.
Neil said: “Tomorrow will be a tough test for our boys, there’s no doubt about that. I expect the team that Stoke bring to be sharp and very fit and wanting to play some football. We need to be ready for that.”
This time next week we’ll be preparing for our first competitive match of the season – a trip to Evesham United in the extra preliminary round of the FA Cup.
For now, it’s the challenge of the Potters and one last chance for the players to secure a place in Neil’s starting XI for next week.
Come on Castle!