AFC Liverpool manager Matt Potter was pleased with his side’s response against Longridge Town after they were handed their first league defeat by Northwich Victoria.
The Non League Reds’ strong start to the league campaign took a knock last Saturday when they were beaten 3-1 by Northwich Victoria.
However, they battled back on Tuesday and picked up an invaluable three points away at Longridge Town thanks to an Elliot Hughes brace after Tom Douglas opened the scoring.
Potter told Off The Park: The Northwich game was tough, I’m sure everyone who had a game on Saturday would say the same things because of the temperature, people made decisions, you fatigue easy, so the performance it was tough.
“We went 1-0 down to a sloppy goal, we scored and I thought we’d kick on and do well but again, concede a penalty through sloppy defending which you can put down to the heat, then we chased the game and conceded the third.
“Saturday was disappointing, we dropped points but we could’ve come away wit something quite easily. With Longridge on Tuesday, I’d of been happy with anything, they’re a team that do really well, it’s a really well run club, surface is decent. Coming away with three points and a clean sheet, you can’t ask for much more. I’m very happy, it’s that positive reaction to the defeat on Saturday.”
Douglas has four in six for AFC Liverpool this season, whilst Hughes – who missed the start of the season following a previous suspension – has netted three in four. “Elliot missed the first two games because of a suspension last year so he’s not had a full pre-season, each game that we go, he gets fitter,” Potter added.
“He got his goal against Burscough then got two against Longridge which is very good.
“Tom came in a week or two before the pre-season, he’s done very well. The first time he came down we had a game against our 21s, he’s grown into it. They’ve both been very impressive, they’ve come in and they’ve started the right way, they’ve been patient, done what we’ve asked and they’ve started to get the rewards consistently.”
At the start of the season, the AFC boss pledged to be defensively stronger after they conceded 80 and scored 80 last term. Although it is early days, they boast a positive goal difference, conceding five goals so far in five matches.
“Take Trafford away, that was defensively a disaster but in the league it’s been good,” he said. “We’ve had an idea about how we wanted to play lads have bought into it and we’ve probably had consistency in the team we’ve had in the backline and defensively than we have had in recent years.
“It comes from Jack (McGovern) when he’s there and he’s playing, he radiates confidence out to them. The more times they play together, the more they’ll get used to it and hopefully that’s the starting point to shut teams out more.
“We got a clean sheet Tuesday, got one against Irlam, conceded early on against Squires Gate then it’s just the Northwich one – I think it’s more irritating because we’ve been quite solid.
“We’ll persist with it, nothing’s perfect, games are going to get harder, we’ve got to make sure we keep our discipline and mentality because lads don’t want to concede, if we get a platform they’ll kick on and score as well, that’s the recipe we’re going for.”
[Featured Image: Dave Williams]
