County can rock at Edgeley Park
BOSS Jim Gannon called on the Hatters faithful to get Edgeley Park ‘rocking’ this weekend, as County look to make it five without defeat, with the visit of struggling Hereford on Saturday.
County returned to home soil with a comfortable 3-0 FA Cup Third Qualifying Round win over Corby Town last weekend, setting up a clash with neighbours Altrincham a week on Saturday at Edgeley Park for a place in the first round proper.
Second-half goals from substitutes Matty Warburton and a brace by Frank Mulhern eased past the Steelmen, who were unbeaten in five months heading into the cup tie – and Gannon pointed to the “professionalism” of his side as County earned a third win in a row.
“We’ve been really big on the word ‘professional’ as of late, that’s been our buzzword recently,” he said. “We’re preparing professionally for each opponent and you saw again on Saturday that Corby are a good side. We could have had more goals in the end, so it’s fully deserved.
“Another phrase we drill into the lads is that ‘good is the enemy of great’ – so while everyone knows it was a good performance, we can always be stronger.
“But the promising thing is that plenty of the lads are making it hard to leave them out – Dan Cowan, Sam Minihan, Matty Warburton. These are all lads who’ve been in and out of the team for various reasons, but they’re staking a really strong claim.”
After grabbing the winning goals in County’s last two outings – trips to South Shields and Darlington – youngster Nyal Bell was replaced at halftime in Saturday’s victory, having also been booked for a late challenge.
And former Port Vale chief Gannon urged patience with his leading marksman, explaining that inconsistency was to be expected with the former Gateshead striker – whilst also admitting that deputy Mulhern was “applying the pressure” for a starting spot after the former Leeds man’s second half double.
“There’s a reminder of how we need to handle the likes of Nyal Bell, where youngsters often have a really good game one week and then work hard the next, but not to the same effect.
“Frank is really applying pressure with his goals, so it’s a strong squad. Even when we’re 3-0 up, I expect the lads to keep working hard because it stands us in good stead for better opposition, so I was really pleased with the lads not only for the win, but for the work ethic.”
The win came at somewhat of a cost for The Hatters, however, with midfielder Jordan Keane replaced early on after another late challenge – with Gannon admitting that County were yet to discover the extent of Keane’s absence.
And, with Irish midfielder Connor Dimaio now departing for international duty with the Ireland U21 squad and captain Paul Turnbull still sidelined, Gannon admitted that County would be looking threadbare in midfield for the visit of Hereford.
“It does give me a bit of a problem, as Connor Dimaio is now on international duty and Paul Turnbull is still out,” he said. “But regardless, it promises to be a great occasion this weekend. I still remember visiting Hereford when both sides were battling it out for promotion from League Two it will be a great atmosphere from both sides, and we head into the game in good spirits and looking forward to getting Edgeley Park rocking.”