David Artell says that some of the first-team were given time to recover from some knocks and strains and that is why they didn’t feature at Altrincham. The likes of Shaun Miller, James Jones, George Ray and Lewis Reilly were all not involved after given time to recuperate.

Artell says that there is nothing too serious but admits he expected there to be some muscle tightness due to the increase in intensity and work load over the last 10 days.

David explained: “Not everyone was involved against Altrincham. Some of them needed a rest. It was just a precaution and you tend to get knocks and muscle strains at this stage of the pre-season.

“It happens and it is nothing too serious. They will get these little tweaks and knocks. They might roll their ankle over on the hard ground or their calves or hamstrings feel tighter than they did. It is to be expected because the work has got shorter and a lot sharper.

“The aim is to make sure that they get though pre-season without any serious injury and that they are ready for the challenge of 50 games and not just the first one.”