Trialists impress boss on tour

Martin Greig • Published 15 Jul 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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ON TRIAL: Players want Cappielow deal.

MORTON trialists Fouad Bachirou and Alan Lithgow were the stand-out perfomers in the 0-0 draw with Blyth Spartans on Tuesday night.

Bachirou, a central midfielder who has been nicknamed 'Fred', is a former Paris Saint Germain youth player and has been impressive in a central midfield berth during Ton's pre-season.

Fouad's countryman, striker Tarik Bengelloun, a former youth player at Nantes and Nottingham Forest, has also made an impression and was involved in the second-half against Spartans.

Moore said: "Fred played well in the middle of the park against Spartans.

"Michael Tidser was also excellent and has been great so far in pre-season. As soon as he touches the ball you can see how good a player he is.

"Fred complements Tidser well. He knows Tidser is a playmaker and positions himself well. He's also a hardy wee player.

"He keeps the ball very well and is only 20. There aren't many 20-year-olds in Scotland who could keep the ball as well as him.

"A big factor in the Spartans game was Kevin McKinlay coming back in on the left side and Alan Lithgow doing well in central defence.

"I'll have another look at Lithgow against Bristol Rovers, which will be a bigger test, and make a decision on him after that. He's a strong defender and good in the air. We still need to bring in three or four players.

"The shape of the team was good and we dominated most of the game. Tariq came on in the second half and offered us a bit of pace up front.

"Tony McParland put in a good shift on the right and did well in the first half in particular."

Moore expressed defensive concerns after the 2-2 draw with Albion Rovers on Saturday but has been working hard to put them right.

He said: "We spent an hour on Tuesday morning working on the back four.

"We also worked on where we wanted the midfield to be when we don't have the ball.

"To be fair to the players, they did exactly what we asked of them against Spartans. They hunted in packs and got into the kind of areas in which we could hit them on the counter-attack.

"For the next game, we will concentrate more on the attacking side."

Against Gateshead tonight, Moore will give a run-out to those players who didn't start against Spartans, including Stewart Greacen, Allan Jenkins and Graeme Holmes.

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 15 Jul 10

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