Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson shares his initial thoughts following Nicky Featherstone’s Testimonial against a Leeds United XI.

A positive display from Pools resulted in a 3-0 win over the Yorkshire side that featured a mixture of experience and youth.

Danny Johnson, Jack Hunter and a Trialist were among the goals at the Prestige Group Stadium in what was a special day to celebrate a Pools legend in Featherstone.

The Pools boss said:

“Today was a really good test for us.

“When you see the players that they had out, they were always going to test us in the top end of the pitch, but defensively, I thought we did really well.

“The biggest thing for me is that we didn’t do well enough last Sunday against Rangers, so we’ve worked really hard on the training pitch this week, out of possession stuff, when to press and when not to press.

“We defended the 18-yard box when we needed to, because you don’t give Patrick Bamford and others like that too many free opportunities, and we didn’t allow that to happen.

Despite many players having Premier League experience in the Leeds squad, Grayson believes you have to stick to the plan that works for the squad.

“No matter who you’re playing against, especially the Premier League clubs, who’ll always have the philosophy of popping the ball around and wanting to dictate the ball, you’ve got to be good both in and out of possession.

“We got both elements right today.”

The full interview can be found on our YouTube.