We caught up with Mark Hughes, following our first pre-season match against Motherwell.
Speaking to CUTV, Mark began with his assessment of the game, saying: “I have to say I'm really pleased with what we produced there, they're up against the Scottish Premier League team who are a couple of weeks ahead of us and gearing up for games of significance for them at the weekend, we're only seven training days in. I thought we were covering ourselves really well, we mixed and matched a little bit, we had a good run out for some of our young players, so we didn't go strong in one half and slightly weaker in the other, I tried to balance it out and I thought both elevens did really well.
“We were unfortunate with the goal, a little bit of a mistake in terms of not clearing our lines but in all honesty that was the only way they looked like they were going to score. I'm really pleased with lots of elements of our play today.”
Leaning more into the performance of individuals, Mark discussed the combination between Luke Armstrong and Regan Linney, explaining: “They're going to be a threat obviously, I mean they were up against Scottish Premier League defenders today and didn't look out of place at all, causing problems and yeah, I was really pleased, I thought the way we got at them was good, in and out possession, we kept our shape and our structure and that was causing them a problem, I think they weren't too happy with how they performed, I think it was more to do with what we were able to do against them rather than any bad play on their behalf.
“Our understanding was their manager was going to make wholesale changes like we did, at the time he didn't do that, I think he wasn't too happy with how his group performed initially and he kept them on, so I think that shows how well we did overall.
“We had a couple of young players in both elevens and tried to surround them with good experience and I thought they did well individually, but collectively sometimes you need a little bit of direction from the more senior players in the group and that's what they got.”
Hughes also spoke fondly of young Hayden Atkinson’s performance, stating: “He's shown up really well in the pre-season period, he's a big strong boy, physicality is no problem for him, he's got a good understanding of what's required, technically okay aswell, so we're pleased, obviously it looks like he's going to be part of the group on a number of occasions this season so that's important for him and good for me because it gives me more options.”
Continuing on the rest of the side, Mark said: “We had good threats, I thought a lot of the guys really took the game to Motherwell, they’re a good side and on occasions when they did create then you could see that level of quality they had but all in all, really solid performance from ours.”
Jonah Lowes was another who impressed in the second-half, an opinion that Mark echoed, saying: "He's a nice little player, good player, good technically so yeah, he’ll have enjoyed that as all the young players did so we're pleased for them, it's a big ask sometimes when you just throw them in because obviously we're missing a couple of senior players but that gives them opportunity to show me what they can do so none of them disappointed themselves.”
Motherwell won the game thanks to a penalty from Andy Halliday, after Gabe Breeze brought down the onrushing Motherwell forward. Mark gave us his view, explaining: “Gabe just got caught, I think he just got caught out by the pace of the lad and there was a little bit of contact and yeah, it was a penalty but up to that point they didn't look like they were going to score, I thought we were the more progressive team towards the end of that second-half period so yeah, all in all, really pleased with what we produced.”
We asked Mark if there was a chance of any senior players returning for Saturday’s match, he said: “Possibly Stephen Wearne, he will probably be okay, so we've got a couple of days of training until then, hopefully he'll be an option for us.”
Finally, United today confirmed that they wouldn’t be taking part in the National League Cup this season. Mark shared his input, saying: "It's going to be a really hard season this year, with obviously travelling and what have you, so I just think the commitment and demands on us is enough at this time, so yeah, I think it's the right decision.”
