Steven Schumacher says Wanderers will keep striving to boost their firepower after holding Premier League opposition in their latest warm-up, writes Pete Oliver.
A 0-0 draw with Everton was another positive step forwards for the Whites with a fortnight to go until the start of the season.
Wanderers looked nicely at home on their first outing at the Toughsheet Community Stadium since their promotion triumph with only a goal missing from an afternoon containing plenty of other plus-points for Schumacher against his former club.
“From a physical point of view, I think we're getting better,” said the Wanderers’ boss after a first clean sheet of the pre-season programme. “We had spells today where we looked a little bit tired during periods of the game, which is understandable against such a strong opponent.
“Tactically, I think we've still got work to do. We've still got lots to improve on and still a few things that are not quite right, but, again, it's only early in pre-season and we've got a bit of time to iron them details out.
“And then from a recruitment point of view, again, like I say all the time, I still think we're really short, especially at the top end of the pitch. We need to try our best to get players in the building that can give us that cutting edge as quickly as possible, which obviously we're all desperately trying hard to do.”
Wanderers remain in the market after adding a sixth new face to their squad earlier this week in the shape of right-sided player Gaizka Larrazabal.
The Spaniard didn’t feature against Everton as he builds up his fitness but four of the summer signings started before Schumacher made wholesale changes during the second half to spread the workload and involve some of the Whites’ younger players.
“We knew it was going to be a really good test for us against a Premier League opposition and I thought the lads handled it really well,” Schumacher added. “Certainly in parts of the first half we thought we had really good control. You could see we got a little bit tired mid-way through the first half and Everton showed the quality and got in a few times, but I thought we came back and responded well as well.
“We knew the changes would affect the flow of the game but it was a really pleasing afternoon with some really good signs. I thought the players were confident, played with belief and showed some good quality at times and then another real pleasing thing for me, I think there were five academy graduates on the pitch at the end as well, which is brilliant for them to say they've played against Everton.
“From the DAC game into the Oldham game and the challenges we're setting the players, we feel as though we're getting better, we're getting stronger and we're improving.
“This was our biggest test today and we want to go to Fleetwood now and make sure we put in the same effort and same work-rate in that game, even though it's against a team who are from a lower league than what we are.
“We want the same attitude, same application, try and go there and try and win the game and keep improving and be ready as possible for when the big games start.”
Watch the full post-match interview with the boss on Wanderers TV