Jordan Rhodes believes Pool are building nicely ahead of the new campaign kicking off in less than a month’s time, following the Seasiders’ 2-1 victory against West Bromwich Albion.
Goals from Sonny Carey and Ashley Fletcher in either half proved the difference for Neil Critchley’s side, and Rhodes shared his delight with the performance against Championship opposition.
“It was nice to put into practice some of the work we have been doing on the training pitch,” he said.
“It was good to get more minutes into a lot of the lads today as well. Nice to have a positive scoreline to back up the good play we had in the match.
“Carlos Corberan is a very good manager. I worked with him for a couple of years at Huddersfield. No doubt they will be one of the Championship’s best teams next season meaning it was always going to be a good test today.
“It definitely proved that, but it’s a real positive ahead of the new season that we put in a good performance in the heat against a team of West Brom’s calibre. Pre-season is all about building ahead of the new campaign and today was another step on that journey, before we kick the season off against Crawley.”
The Seasiders’ goals both came from well executed pressing sequences and Rhodes explained how important that asset of Pool’s game is.
“Both in and out of possession we try our best to influence the game in every opportunity,” he said.
“Everyone had that mindset today. When you come to a place like this, you know they will try and dominate the ball, so you have to be in the mindset that you will have to sacrifice not having the ball at times.”
Rhodes believes the Seasiders have had two good tests over the last five days against Cadiz CF and West Brom ahead of the 2024/25 season kicking-off in August.
“Two teams with good calibre of players and Sunderland on Saturday will be the same,” he said.
“We just have to keep pushing and keep making steps forward and that continues on Saturday at Bloomfield Road in front of our home fans.”
The striker was on the end of a bad challenge in Pool’s goalless draw against Cadiz on Friday, but he confirmed he came away from the match unscathed.
“It was just a bit of a bruise,” he said.
“There was a point where I thought it might have been worse, but the numbness of the leg went away after a couple of minutes. It wasn’t a pleasant challenge but thankfully I came out of it fine and it was good to get 60 minutes under my belt today.”