Bolton Wanderers B team boss Matt Craddock believes his side's pre-season friendly loss to Southport is a 'reality check' as he felt his outfit did not do the basics well enough in the defeat.
Wanderers' new B team squad travelled to Haig Avenue to take on the Sandgrounders for their third pre-season friendly. The Whites' second string have previously suffered narrow 1-0 losses to Atherton Collieries and Bamber Bridge.
The young Whites tasted defeat ultimately versus the National League North side. Niall Watson put the hosts in front before the break as Gez Sithole missed a gilt-edged first half chance, while Connor Woods added a second before full-time as Bolton lost 2-0.
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B team boss Craddock was frank with his assessment of how his side performed overall in the encounter. He felt his team did not do the basics well enough in the clash and the deficit would have been greater had it not been for several saves by Luke Hutchinson.
Though he believes the standard of opposition has increased during pre-season and most recently versus Southport, he belives his side must still put in the hard yards during matches. Though the key for the B team is long term play development, Craddock still wants to see the fundamentals done properly in every encounter they play.
He said: "It was a reality check, I think for the lads. You could say a similar story to the last couple of games really where we were having to deal with a lot of physical challenges and then I think we just didn't do the basics well enough.
"That's probably the disappointing thing that in the first half, once you manage to deal with the long ball and the balls into the box, when we got the ball we got into some really good opportunities and the quality just wasn't there.
"The patterns were there, the ball went in, but it didn't stick or the pass wasn't right. The detail wasn't good enough, we didn't switch it well enough. That was the frustrating thing in the first half. In the second half, I was just rally disappointed really with how we stopped doing what we should be doing really.
"I think we didn't run enough, we didn't press hard enough, we didn't squeeze up the pitch enough and then it was finally really when we made some changes and put the young lads on where we got a bit of confidence to get the ball and keep the ball moving.
"I would say it's a bit of a reality check for the lads today and this is a project, it does not get done in three weeks. We've had three really tough games but it has given us an indication of where we're at, the players that we've got and what they need to do to improve.
"There is a gap between us and the first team and we're going to have to work really hard to try and close the gap.
"The standard of opposition, people that know football, non-league is getting better and better and you can look at the National League and League Two and there's not much difference. Same with the National League North and some of the teams in this league and some of the teams in the league above.
"The standards are very high and this is what we wanted for the lads. We wanted a challenge and it gives us an indication of where we're at.
"However, there's still the basics that we need to do in the game so matter who we're up against, we still have to outwork a team and we have to work harder and you go and watch the first team and the manager spoke about it at the weekend. If you want to play for the club, you've got to run and I don't think we did enough running today, we didn't do enough pressing, we didn't do the basics well enough.
"That's the disappointing thing because I think we did create a couple of chances but without young Luke today, I think we would have conceded a lot more than just the two. We do have to put a context on it and I am long term player development and the key is long term.
"You do have to remain calm and consistent. You do have to recognise that this is a tough ask and that it is a long period of time that we're going to be working with these players. However, I still stand by that the basics have to be done in every game whether we're up against a top team or a team that we should be beating and for long periods today, the basics weren't done well enough for me and that's probably why I'm a little bit more disappointed today than I have been in the last couple of games."
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