Daryl McMahon praised new recruit Lawrie Wilson after the signing from Port Vale strode through 90 minutes despite only having met his teammates shortly before kick-off.
“He knows a couple of the players, Jukebox (Andy Drury) and Jack Payne,” McMahon said. “And he played with me two years at Stevenage. I just think he gives another attacking dimension from a deep position. He’s got real experience, he’s a winner and professional and I thought he had a really good game tonight considering he hadn’t met anyone till he got on the bus today.”
Wilson’s willingness to drive deep into Maidstone territory to link up with Sean Shields on the right flank was a major talking point of Fleet’s performance, particularly in the first half, and the player who turned out for Charlton in the Championship is of the sort of calibre McMahon is looking to as he gradually moulds his squad.
“We tried to get Lawrie a couple of times but it’s difficult to get a player with that CV and how well he’s done but he hasn’t settled at Port Vale and he’s become available,” McMahon said.
The Fleet boss also revealed that there may be a few more exits as the club prepares paperwork for 23-year-old James Alabi to sign from Tranmere if a deal can be struck. “We’ve got a couple that will probably go the other way over the next few weeks,” the Fleet boss confirmed. “We’re just trying to tinker with the squad and build it up going forward. When good players become available like Lawrie and James, I think it’s important that we move to strengthen the squad and evolve it when we can.”
His squad’s response to their new year setback also pleased the manager immensely though as ever he was as balanced after a win as a defeat. “You know me, I don’t get carried away win or lose,” he said, “I think performance is important and the performance tonight was excellent across the board. I thought we gave a similar performance in the sense of with the ball we were very good again tonight and dominating the ball. We were definitely better in both boxes tonight which we needed to be on the last two performances. I thought it was a fully deserved three points for us.”
