Charity friendly proved a worthwhile cause - Holleran

Balmy temperatures brought in a decent crowd to Townsend Meadow for the charity clash which raised funds for Myton Hospice and Holleran said the evening proved worthwhile for all involved.

“It was a good exercise,” he said. “The few players that needed the 90 minutes got them and we had plenty of the ball.

“We lacked conviction in the final third but they were very resolute.

“From their point of view it was similar to us against Leicester and I’m sure their manager was happy with their shape without the ball. (Alex) Price was neat and tidy in front of the back four and they were a threat on the counter attack and had a couple of good chances when the game opened up.”

After Rob Thompson-Brown’s penalty cancelled out Louis Bridges’ first-half opener, the visitors had the better chances in an open second half, with substitute Colby Bishop wasting several before hitting the post late on.

However, rather than concentrate on the chances missed, Holleran preferred to highlight the opportunities created and called on his close-season signing to employ the same glass half full mentality.

“I’ve had many a decent centre forward and the one thing that strikes you about the good ones is that they are selfish.

“They don’t give a hoot when they miss things.

“On Tuesday night, Colby’s all-round performance was great, we saw what he’s all about.

“On another night he could have had a hat-trick.

“He was getting into the positions but you can see from his body language, you can’t let it affect you.

“The best strikers don’t get too down when they don’t score.

“The fact of the matter is that he had three, four, five good goalscoring opportunities and as long as he’s doing that the goals will come.”

Liam Canavan, Callum Gittings and Connor Gudger all sat out Tuesday night’s trip to Townsend Meadow and while Holleran said the absence of Gittings and Gudger was precautionary, there is some cause for concern over the former Kettering midfielder’s injury.

“Liam is a bit of a worry,” added Holleran. “It’s a quad injury and we may have to be steady with it.”