Liam Hughes spot on as Worksop Town edge narrow friendly win over Ossett United

Liam Hughes’ 43rd-minute spot kick was the difference on a dull evening. But, despite the lack of ‘oomph’ in the game, the Tigers played some good combination play as United barely threatened.

And Parry, who was left questioning his side’s display at the weekend, praised a much-improved outing.

“It was a massive improvement from Saturday from us,” he explained. “We looked like we had an identity tonight on the pitch and we executed some good patterns of play, and our movement was good.

“I was pleased with the performance, but it is still nowhere near where we want to get to, but you could see tonight that we looked like a team whereas Saturday, we didn’t gel as well.

“We just need to keep working hard. I don’t want to make excuses for Saturday, but we had a very tough week, and I don’t think there was much energy in the side whereas today I think they had plenty of rest and there was an eagerness to get down there and play with each other. I thought we played some good stuff, and it was a step in the right direction. At the times when we needed to break through the lines quickly, we did that and with quality.

“If you look at the final third, we have created chances in there and we know we have got to be better once we get through the lines, especially in their 18-yard box and my only frustration was that once we got in there, we were a little shy of pulling the trigger and tried one extra pass to walk the ball into the net rather than getting a shot off.”

The Tigers travel to Bridlington Town on Saturday afternoon for their first away friendly this summer.

Parry believes it will be good for his lads to experience the away trips again.

“It’ll be another tough game and the lads will be back in on Thursday where they will cover some more milage and we’ll make it very difficult on Saturday,” he added.

“It’ll be good for us to get on the road and be on a bus together and get the journeys going because we only play 50 per cent of our games at home, so it’ll be good to get in unfamiliar territory and on a grass pitch against a side that will be competitive again in their league.”