AFC Fylde players in good shape for the season ahead

The Coasters are back in National League’s top flight for the first time since their points-per-game relegation in the Covid-curtailed 2019/20 season.

Last Saturday brought a 2-2 draw at Maidenhead United in their first match of the new campaign.

That came on the back of a seven-match pre-season, in which Murray felt Fylde had shown the extent of their summer’s work.

He said: “They all have programmes to do over the summer, which they are expected to stick to, so when they come back we crack on with the intense stuff – which we have done.

“The guys came back in terrific shape, which allowed us to be a fair way down the process.”

Murray saw his players pick up a point the hard way last weekend, having gone down 2-0 down inside 20 minutes thanks to Reece Smith and Emeka Obi’s own goal.

However, Nick Haughton pulled one back before Alex Whitmore levelled in second-half stoppage time.

The Fylde head coach said: “In the first 20 minutes, we played into their hands.

“We conceded two goals from two errors, which in one way is a positive because it’s something we can fix.

“It’s shown us that at this level, if you make mistakes, you get punished.

“The big strength of this team is the togetherness, the character and the resilience.

“It was a real learning curve. They are a team that are really hard to break down, very well organised.”