Lancaster City boss Mark Fell fine-tunes ahead of season

Dolly Blues boss Mark Fell (photo: Tony North)

The Dolly Blues do not kick off their season until a week on Saturday and so there is time for further fine-tuning to be done by Fell and his staff.

But it’s a ‘so far, so good’ message from Fell as their  pre-season programme enters its final stages.

Fell said: “We are working with a competitive group of 18 lads and at the moment they are giving me selection issues of the right kind.

“We scored three goals against Burnley Under-23s last week, beat Llandudno 4-0 and drew 3-3 with Barrow in recent matches.

“Until the Barrow game it had been a long time since we had scored more than twice in a game.

“Yes, these were friendly games and we have to go and do that in competitive action but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

“We have generally been playing with a 4-4-2, narrow in midfield which makes it into a diamond. It was a system we used last season but we needed to create more chances.

“The lads have worked hard in pre-season and they have responded well to what we’ve asked of them.

“We are seeing rewards with how they have played so far and now we have to work on a Plan B and a Plan C.

“I would still like to bring in another centre-half and we will looking about.

“The National League has started now so we can have a look at who isn’t playing and see who might be available.”

Lancaster’s latest game saw them beat Burnley Under-23s 3-0 at the Clarets’ Barnfield Training Centre.

Paul Dawson, Jack Armer and a triallist were on target, much to the delight of Fell.

“When you play an Under-23s side, sometimes they have Under-18s and youth lads in it,” said Fell. “Burnley Under-18s had a game that day so the team we played was a proper Under-23s, full of young pros and that was a great test.”

City have two more friendlies before the season kicks off against Stafford Rangers at Giant Axe on August 17.

On Saturday they head to North Wales to face Conwy Borough who play in the Welsh Championship. That game replaces the planned friendly with Clitheroe, who are in FA Cup action.