|Adam Boyd - goal

By Charlie Summerbell
July 30 2011

Mick Wadsworth says pre-season friendlies are so little use that they should be done away with altogether, and he refuses to allow them to influence his team thinking as he and his Hartlepool United players prepare for the new season.  

That’s probably not a bad idea after a 2-1 defeat at non-League York City.

Yes, they are meaningless, it’s a glorified training session and no substitute for the real thing.

But we bet you’d rather have won, Mick.

He told the club website that he was more interested in the players’ fitness than in the result and added: “It’s all about next Saturday for us now and nothing else really matters.

“I saw a lot of negatives in the game today, but that helps because it means we have things to work on.”

He added that he has his team for the opener at MK Dons in mind and added: “We didn’t pick that team at York and we didn’t do any of our set plays because we don’t want to give anything away.

“I think we are in good shape overall – we’ve seen some things today that need work, but I’m not too distressed at all. It’s all looking very encouraging and exciting.”

Only a footy manager could describe a defeat at non-League York in that way, but as usual the proof of the pudding will come next weekend at MK thingy.

Meanwhile, there’s the little matter of the Richie Humphreys testimonial game against Sunderland at the Vic on Tuesday night,

Hopefully, Sunderland won’t be getting too stuck in, bearing in mind that Pools kick-off their season four days later while the Black Cats have another week to go.