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Jack Iredale refused to kick teething problems at Wanderers into the tall grass after an awkward afternoon at Chorley.
While Ian Evatt’s side emerged from Victory Park with a competent 3-1 win, their performance had not been nearly as sharp as it had been a few days earlier at Longridge Town.
The manager voiced his gripes with the standard of the playing surface, which had only recently been re-laid, admitting it did not help his side’s preparations for the new campaign.
Iredale hopes he and the Wanderers squad can heed some lessons from what proved a tougher-than-anticipated trip up the M61.
“The pitch made it difficult but we can’t use it as an excuse, we are going to go to places this season where we will have a tough surface to play on,” he said. “We have to come up with better ways to deal with it.
“The last one we played on in pre-season was a bit better, so that was a new experience, but we definitely could have dealt with it better and we will do in the future.
“When a team is in a low block – and we will come up against that plenty of times this season – it is up to us to move the ball around with more urgency because it is the only way we are going to break them down. That is the information we have been given so we take that on board and do it next time. We know what we didn’t do well enough.”
Wanderers trained for a week in the sunshine of Portugal but have still been on treble sessions since their return to Lostock.
Evatt said some of his players had exhibited signs of fatigue at Chorley, and Iredale is keen to keep his nose to the grindstone in an effort to be fully prepared for the season ahead.
“Pre-season is always tough but there will be blocks during the season where you play Saturtday-Tuesday a few weeks on the bounce, you’ll be fatigued, but it is something we have to deal with if we are going to be successful,” he said.
“I feel the benefit of it right now. I felt really good in the game on Tuesday and since then there has been a lot of work, a lot of information has been coming my way as I’m trying to adapt to a new formation. It is tough but I feel like I am learning a lot and I am adapting quite well.”
Chorley may have made for uncomfortable opposition at times on Saturday but Iredale feels it will be good experience for what is in store in some of the less appetising corners of League One.
“The sun is out today – and I don’t think that will happen once during the actual season. We’ll have sideways rain and all sorts of other conditions to deal with,” he smiled.
“The point of a good team is to deal with all those conditions and to find ways to win. This was a lesson and it is one we have learned already and can move on to the next game.
“My experience of football at past clubs is that I have been able to defend as part of the team but also to get on the ball and attack. This is a perfect opportunity to combine both of those and progress my career.
“I am really happy to be at a club of this size and to get an opportunity from the gaffer and the coaching staff to come into this team and show what I can do.
“I’m looking forward to getting the season started, getting some consistency and some momentum.”
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