United’s injury woes brought youth second years Nic Bollado and Ryan Carr onto the bench for the home side on Saturday, but the level of performance remained high with the squad showing that it has quality across the board, with everyone prepared to do their bit.
“We had to make changes but I thought the players who came in were excellent,” manager Paul Simpson said. “I thought Corey Whelan and Jack Ellis were excellent.
“I was really pleased with Jack and the way he simplified his game. It looked like there were times where he was hitting aimless balls down the channels, but I’ll take the blame for that. I asked him to keep it simple.
“I told him he had two options and I didn’t want him to complicate it in any way. There were times when it wasn’t on for option one, so his second option was to send it into the channel. That’s what I wanted from him, and I thought he defended really well. He showed good composure.
“I thought he showed a real calmness. We were looking at our options in staff meetings and you can try and consider different permutations and I’m saying look, it’s round peg in round hole, Jack Ellis is there, he’s been excellent through pre-season, he deserves the opportunity.
“There’s no point having him in the squad or keeping him on a pro contract and him being around if we’re not going to throw him in.
“We probably have to accept that as a young player there’s going to be mistakes along the way. But we have senior players making mistakes. You have to deal with it. If we’re going to try and develop our own players, we’ve got to give them the chance.
“As much as that might be difficult for us because there might be a bump in the road for them, he’s done really well, he’s been calm, defended well, covered round, against a difficult forward line.
“I think he’s a really strong lad, physically strong, he’s a really good athlete, he’s got a really good temperament. Jonny Williams is a really good footballer, Harry McKirdy is a good footballer, Wakeling was a threat when he was on, Adeloye when he came on was a threat, Jack stood up to the challenge.
“He’s certainly earned the right to play in the team with the way he’s gone about pre-season. Let’s see how he carries on.”
“Corey stepped in and he looks as if he's been there all the time,” he added. “I’ve been really pleased with him. He stepped in for Morgan and took the armband, he slotted in so well.
“He deserves a lot of praise for that because he has been excellent through pre-season. As I’ve already explained, Omari is still finding his feet and fitness, because he missed a huge chunk of pre-season, but their opportunities will keep coming.
“It’s up to them to take it. We’ve got players like Dev sitting on the bench, he’s waiting to come in, and we have Jayden who I thought was excellent the other night. Sonny is waiting to get his opportunity, and today was a really good day to give Ryan Carr and Nic Bollado some experience of being involved.
“Maybe the opportunity wasn’t there for them to play, I’d still rather go with seven subs and give them a taste of it rather than just put five on there. I think it’s a bit disrespectful to the club to do that, and these young lads deserve to sample the atmosphere and be involved.”
And with the team having coped with the changes thrust upon them, he commented: “I’m just really proud of them. I’m delighted with what they’re doing.
“I think they’ve come a long way in a couple of months and I’m really pleased with everything they’re doing. What I’ve asked of them is to be the best professionals they can be so that they’re ready for the Grimsby game.
“But how they’ve played in the games so far is credit to them. They’ve worked hard in pre-season, they haven’t lost their heads when they’ve not started in games and they’ve kept doing things properly.
“If we want to achieve anything, whatever that anything is, we aren’t going to do it with just 11 players. It has to be about the group. As a manager looking after the 11 is easy, it’s important that the remainder are right and in a good place.
“They’re looking after themselves and we’re trying to make sure they’re still involved and that they know they have a role to play.”
Leading the line, having missed a big chunk of pre-season, was forward Omari Patrick, who ran himself into the deck for his teammates.
“I feel bad for him, in a way, because he’s having to get fit with having missed so much time in training,” the gaffer said. “He’s getting fit out there under the scrutiny of everybody watching, and people can be critical of that.
“He dug in and did really well. The chance he missed in first half wouldn’t have counted because he was offside, so he got out of jail with that one. He worked tirelessly, he ran, he created moments for us, and I think when he gets fully fit he’ll be effective and he’ll do an excellent job for us.
“He gives you a different type of outlet because of his sheer pace and the confidence he has in his own ability. Once we get him a bit fitter, and fully fit if we can ever get to that point with him, then he will be a real threat.
“He is a confidence player and when you’re fit you get confidence from knowing that you are able to cope. He’ll get better, so we have to manage him through this little spell so we get to a point where he’s comfortable with where he’s at.”
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