SOLIHULL Moors manager Tim Flowers was pleased with the way his side approached their first pre-season test as they ran out 3-0 winners at Tamworth on Tuesday, writes John Clothier.
Goals from new signing Danny Wright, Kwame Thomas and Jamey Osborne sealed victory for Moors and, while there is still plenty to work on, Flowers was impressed overall.
He said: “I thought in the first half we looked to turn them around. We were fairly effective at that. We got in two or three times, worked (former Moors keeper) Jaz Singh on a number of occasions and probably had eight or nine attempts on goal.
“I don’t remember Ryan Boot having to make a save. We looked fairly steady.
“I haven’t really scratched the surface yet with anything set-piece-wise. It was more of a fitness exercise for us and a little look at some shape and some patterns, some of which worked and some we need to do more of.
“In the second half, both teams made some changes and that tends to break the game up a little bit. It became a little bit end-to-end and one or two were looking a bit leggy.
“They’ve had ten fairly intense days of training on a rock-hard pitch which isn’t ideal. Liam Daly’s had a bit of a tight thigh and Adi Yussuf has had a tight calf, so they were rested.
“All in all, it’s a good result, a clean sheet, but still plenty to do.”
Solihull supporters were given their first look at recent recruits Boot, Alex Gudger, Wright and Birmingham City loanee Luke Maxwell at the Lamb.
On their performances, Flowers said: “I thought they did well. Wrighty got his goal which is great. All strikers want to get off the mark and he has done. Kwame also got off the mark.
“Gudger looked steady at the back. He’s a decent all-round player. He can handle the ball, he’s aggressive and he’s got decent pace.
“There will be big shoes to fill as Fiacre Kelleher did well for us (last season). We identified Gudger as a very good prospect so I thought he did well. We’ve got plenty of games to come and we’ll obviously improve.”
Despite still needing to add a couple of finishing touches, Flowers is happy with the way his squad is shaping up ahead of the upcoming campaign.
“Everybody knows we’re looking for a left-back. The trialist who came in did well, he had a good game and was energetic,” added Flowers.
“There might be one more other than that to come in. Other than that, we’re pretty much set I think.
“We’ve managed to keep the core of what we had last season and have added new faces to it.”
Moors continue their preparations with a visit to Evesham United on Saturday (3pm).
