Mark Molesley gave his thoughts to Shots TV ahead of tomorrow’s pre-season friendly against Crawley Town. You can watch the interview on our YouTube channel by clicking HERE
The Shots have started their pre-season campaign well with dominant victories over Badshot Lea and Slough Town but Crawley present more of a challenge in respect to their Football League status.
Molesley is looking forward to tomorrow’s game and says that the squad have trained well this week. “We’ve had another real positive week. The boys have worked really hard and as I said last week, the attitude and the mentality has been great. They’ve been a pleasure to be around at the moment. We’re obviously excited by what we’re seeing but also grounded, knowing there’s a lot of hard work ahead.”
“It’s just another challenge you’ve got to rise to (hot conditions earlier this week). We had to tweak things a little bit so there were a few early starts at the start of the week. We always use anything to spin the other way. It’s an extra challenge, it’s an extra resistance the boys have got to go through: The heat, getting up a bit earlier. We try to use everything we can to make us stronger and better. We’ve certainly done that and the boys have had some warm-weather training so they can’t have too many complaints!”
Crawley recently hired former Arsenal and England youth coach Kevin Betsy as Manager and Molesley is looking forward to going up against a coach who likes to play an entertaining style of football.
“We’re really excited. They’re (Crawley Town) obviously embarking on a new project down there. I know of their management team and they’ve had a great experience coaching in the England set-ups and over at Arsenal. They’re looking to play an exciting brand of football so it’s going to be a really tough challenge. That’s what we’re looking for. They’re definitely going to test us and that’s what we want at the moment; we want to expose any weakness so we’re looking to get as much out of the game as we can and being tested by a very good outfit full of quality.”
Tomorrow’s game represents the first time for Shots fans to see their side in action at The EBB Stadium ahead of the 22/23 season and Molesley is looking forward to seeing the fans back in the stadium. Tickets for tomorrow’s game can be bought HERE
“That’s the thing we’re most excited about (playing in front of the fans again). New signings, a freshness about the group and hopefully a freshness on the pitch as well. It’s going to be so important to get out and put a show on in front of the fans and one they’re going to be excited about as well. It is still pre-season so we still need to gel. There may be a few rough edges but hopefully you’ll be able to see a few of the things we’re working on and it’s another chance for us to build the minutes and the match fitness and be tested by a quality opposition.”
With friendlies away to AFC Totton and Havant and Waterlooville on Tuesday (26th) and Saturday (30th) next week, The Shots face playing three games in the space of a week but Molesley says it’s all part of preparing for another campaign.
“We’re always trying to ramp it up, always trying to stage pre-season well. It’s been mapped into a certain way so we’ve got to get used to that Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday feeling again. We’re also trying to get everyone that’s signed around the squad as match ready as we can. We’re looking for constant refinement, to keep improving each day, keep pushing the boundaries and try to find that sweet spot of pushing as hard as we can but not going into that danger zone in pre-season of injuries.”
