Daryl McMahon almost played the full 90 minutes in the Kent Reliance Senior Cup tie against Bromley on Tuesday night and declared a useful runout for himself, particularly given Fleet’s injury concerns at present.
“It was good for myself to play with people,” he told BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster. “To see what they’re seeing sometimes that you can’t see from the sideline while you’re on the pitch and you can coach on the pitch which is nice. We haven’t got many bodies to spare at the minute so it was good for me to get a sweat on and have a little game of football!”
McMahon was pleased with the performance of his unfamiliar side which included former Wealdstone youth Harvie Gardiner and one-time Oxford City and Solihull Moors player Jean-Yves Niate at centre-back.
“It was a good game, we had a really mixed team out tonight. I thought everyone put in a good performance. I thought the young boys did really well, Harvie [Gardiner] in particular at centre half, 16 years old, so lots of positives. We’ve got Jean on trial at the minute and he did OK for us.”
Looking ahead to a busy Bank Holiday weekend of football, McMahon believes his side should have a few more points on the board but is satisfied with the season’s beginning. “We could have easily nicked more points than we have but we’ve been good in all the games, we’ve played some good stuff, we’ve had chances,” he said. “We have to build on it, we’ve been terribly unlucky in terms of injuries over the last week but they’re part of football and we’ve reacted to that in the sense of the lads who’ve come in have played well. We’re happy with where we’re at.”
In terms of injuries, Kenny Clark’s progress is still subject to monitoring while Sam Magri’s departure to Malta on Sunday means McMahon’s quest for a centre-back is still very much a priority.
“Kenny did some more stuff today but we won’t know, it’s a day to day thing with Ken to see how he reacts,” McMahon explained. “We’re pushing him but we can’t push him too much. We’ve pushed him as much as we can until he’s sore, then we ease off and see how he reacts the next day to that. We’ll see how he is tomorrow and go again Thursday.
“Dean Rance should train Thursday but he’s been out a month or so, so he’s not going to be match fit. It’s a pity this game wasn’t next week in a sense as he could have played in it but it is what it is.”
And as for the hunt for a centre-back, McMahon is potentially nearing a signing but is relaxed in his pursuit of the right man, who he would prefer to bring in permanently.
“Hopefully we might have one in, we’ll see,” he said. “It’s like that at the minute, like I said the other day the transfer window in the Football League, people aren’t looking to let players out until that closes. At the minute it’s pretty much a closed shop. We’re hopeful but we’ll wait and see.
We’ve got enough, Bagasan Graham had a good game tonight, Jean’s on trial so we’ll assess that as we go along we’re not panicking.”
Listen to the full interview below.
https://soundcloud.com/eufcofficial/daryl-after-bromley
