City of Liverpool manager Paul McNally hopes their Leek Town defeat can be used as a learning curve for their trip to Workington, this weekend.
The Purps were on the receiving end of their worst defeat since the new manager took over as Leek fired five past McNally’s side.
With the midweek results and Saturday’s defeat, they have moved back into the bottom four. Reflecting on their defeat, the City of Liverpool boss told Off The Park: “For the first 35 minutes, I thought we dominated the game but that was in possession, out of possession, they were the better team.
“They were all over us as soon as we made an error but up until that point, we were in control but after that point, Leek dominated, they just grew and grew from our own errors, we didn’t deal with it.
“A 5-0 scoreline probably reflects how it was but on another day I think it would’ve been two or three. But we just wilted after the second goal, we went to pieces.
“I wouldn’t say it was a lesson for me or the management team but it was a lesson for the team in how to play, how to be organised without the ball, be disciplined with and without the ball but also effective when playing on the counter,” he added.
“So yeah, it was a lesson for the group, possibly, for us to move forward, we’ve got to take bits from that, learn and move forward.”
They travel to Workington, a team unbeaten in the league since the end of August. The City of Liverpool boss is under no illusions over the difficulty of the task.
He said; “It’s just as tough as the Leek game, Leek are considered to being one of the top teams and based on that performance against us, that was the best team performance I’ve seen this season.
“If Workington are anything like them, then it’s going to be a tough game, we’re away from home and up against it, we’ll see what we can do, see where it takes us. We’re going to be organised, we’ll be efficient and we’ll see what we can get from it.
“These aren’t going to be the games that will define us, last week it was a barometer of where we are in the scheme of things.
“It’s a learning curve for some of the lads, we could’ve potentially be 1-0 up before they scored their first goal – it hasn’t gone in so that game, we could’ve gone one up and they would’ve been questioning themselves.
“As it was, they grew in strength. The lads here, we can progress, I think it’s more defining roles and responsibilities in the team, playing a certain way, sometimes it doesn’t have to be pretty, sometimes has to be ground out and do the things we ask, instead of playing pretty football because sometimes that doesn’t get you results.”
