Worksop Town showing strength in depth as pre-season continues with five goals past Stamford

A brace from Liam Hardy and goals from Jay Rollins, Luke Hall, and captain Hamza Bencherif gave the Tigers an eyebrow-raising triumph at the weekend against a side at Worksop’s level that have had several play-off finishes in recent years.

And Parry was pleased with his side, who started the game without some of their star men.

“We were missing some key players as well like Jim Hanson, Terry [Hawkridge], Liam Hughes and Josh Wilde who are a vital part of our side that haven’t played today and the other lads that have come in have shown that the competition is fantastic,” he said.

“The performance pleased me because it showed me what I have with the competition that we have got and the difficult job that I have is bringing people to one side and telling them why they will not be starting but that has got to drive them on to keep their shirt.

“I thought we controlled possession, but they had a spell where we had to get our shape and whether the storm a little bit.

“I thought we controlled the ball well at the back because their manager likes them to press high and get at our defenders, so I am pleased that we didn’t rush and make the wrong decision.

"We kept it well and switched it out the other side to create space and it sucked them into it which created overloads.

“They have got a good, seasoned manager in there that’s been around the block and knows the game inside out and his sides are always in the play-offs and they finished second in the league last year for a reason.”

Rollins made his home debut for the Tigers, scoring one and assisting two in a virtuoso performance for the winger.

Parry explained how key he can be once he is fully up to scratch.

He added: “Jay is some player and, as I said, he can play multiple positions for us, and he excites us with how we can deploy him.

“He is quick, direct, and he has goals and assists in him which is everything that we want from him, and his fitness and sharpness will come because we have two weeks left.”