Carlisle United manager Paul Simpson has announced himself well satisfied with his side’s 3-1 friendly win over Bolton Wanderers.
Goals from Ryan Edmondson, Ben Barclay and Kristian Dennis gave United their win with Aaron Morley scoring a penalty for Bolton to briefly pull them back to 2-1.
Simpson said: “It was massively encouraging. The biggest thing that pleased me was the fitness levels.
“They looked strong, and I think the other thing was that they looked comfortable in the shape they had, and the discipline to keep that shape throughout, even when we were making a whole host of changes.
“There were tired legs from the lads who played the 90 minutes but you expect that. There were so many things to be pleased about.
“I keep saying that the games are an extension of training and this has been another really good training day for us.”
But Simpson knows that United are still not the finished article and there is still a bit to work on before the season starts against Crawley on July 30.
He explained: “We still need to be better because there were things that weren’t quite right. We gave the ball away a little bit too cheaply at times and we had occasions where our outside centre-backs were getting out and weren’t quite finding the right pass.
“Those are things we need to improve on. We had opportunities where we could have been a little bit more organised on set plays. We didn’t do it particularly well. There are still things we need to improve and work on. But I’ve got to say, overall I was really pleased with what I saw.
“As I’ve said, the biggest thing for me was the fitness and strength levels I saw from them. The discipline they showed, the work ethic, all those things were really good. Although I’m not forgetting it’s a pre-season friendly.”
