Manager reaction to the Morecambe game
United manager Greg Abbott spoke to the official site on Wednesday morning to give us his reaction to the final friendly of the 2012 pre-season campaign.
He said: "As I said on the radio last night that was our last bit of work before it all starts to get real on Saturday.
"I can't fault the lads because they have been superb from the day they got back to work last month and we're now in that position where it's over to me to pick a team to win a cup game at the weekend.
"This game is probably one where we didn't quite play as well as we wanted to but credit to Morecambe because they worked hard and stopped us. It was another important night in terms of finding out a few more things and for getting pitch time for one or two lads to make sure everyone is ready to go for the weekend.
"We've had a couple of defeats back-to-back now and, friendly games or not, we want to put it right. The best time for us to to do that will be on Saturday so our focus is on preparing properly and making sure we're in the right frame of mind for what is a very important game.
"We haven't given any hints with team selection from any of the friendly games so far. There are some who played last night who will be involved but, in all honesty, we have a couple of days where a few things will be finalised and a few decisions made.
"The time for talking is over now and we go into Saturday knowing we have a squad which, if they all perform to their maximum, should have a real chance. Just like every other club and manager in the country we'll be hoping for a good start so that we can hopefully get some momentum going.
"We've seen our players really knuckle down and we just want that to transfer itself onto the pitch on Saturday now. The players have made all the right noises and it's been encouraging, so we're feeling confident.
"I think I spoke to you last week about how pleased we are with the younger professionals in the group. They've all pushed on really well and they haven't done themselves any harm at all. The fact of the matter is that if they are good enough, then they're going to play. They know they still have work to do but the energy and determination to do well for the team has been there and none of them have looked out of place.
"We had young Tom Berwick involved from our youth team and it's an experience he'll remember. It will have done him the world of good to play beside players like Thir [Paul Thirlwell] and JP [McGovern].
"We're just looking forward to Saturday now. We'll do our work over the next few days, look after everybody and we'll come in for the game ready and raring to go."
