Tranmere Rovers Manager Ian Dawes emphasised the importance of games such as the 0-0 draw at Vauxhall Motors to his Rovers side’s 2023/24 pre-season in terms of preparation for the new season.
“Early pre-season games are always the same, it’s about getting 45 minutes in the players.
"Two teams, half a game each. Of course you want to win games, no-one wants to win a game more than me, but it’s about them coming through unscathed, no injuries, and moving onto the next game.
“I’m as impatient as anybody. I want it to look now what it’s going to look like for Barrow at home for the first game of the season, but there’s a process and we’ve got to be patient with it.
"It’s got to come game by game. It’s still the first game so it’s a good run-out.”
Dawes also spoke about how much of a benefit games such as this can be for the players’ fitness levels heading into the new season.
“It’s massive for them because you can’t replicate a game so that’s why we dip them into games. Training, you do all you can, but there’s nothing like a game."
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You can watch Ian Dawes’ interview in full via our YouTube channel below.