It was the Shayden Morris show at Highbury as Fleetwood overcame Huddersfield in pre-season action

Fleetwood played with an intensity befitting of competitive action against Championship side Huddersfield at Highbury.

Whilst pre-season is all about building fitness and momentum in play, a victory over a team from the level above should never be scoffed at and it could quite easily have been more than the 2-1 scoreline in the first hour of the game.

One of the key men for Simon Grayson’s side this campaign in the form of Jay Matete had to leave action early in the first half after picking up a knock that he and the club will hope is not serious.

He had set the tone in midfield in the early stage with a high press that forced error upon error from the Terriers backline.

The visitors struggled to settle, almost shocked by the intensity being set by the home side, evidently buoyed by their returning home support.

Shayden Morris, who was the clear man of the match, opened the scoring after forcing yet another mistake and calmly dispatching into the left bottom corner.

Morris continued to look to drive aggressively out wide and was able to deliver in the final third, something which Fleetwood lacked last season despite looking healthy in their progressive play.

Yet another impressive youth product at just 19 years of age, he will be one of a few that the club hope will point towards a more self-sufficient future supporting their academy products to provide a platform to bigger things.

Something that struck me throughout the first hour was a change in the way Fleetwood press.

That general intensity was there last season, but the press appeared aimless at times, pressing for pressing’s sake and it allowed oppositions to calmly bypass as long as they dragged a holding midfielder into half spaces to open up for a pass.

Last night, the press looked more intelligent and planned.

The players knew when the right point was to engage, opting to allow Huddersfield to carry the ball out from the back to a certain point before triggering a high press that would catch them out.

It continued to adapt throughout the game too, looking to target individual players who were showcasing their inability to carry the ball out under pressure.

That lack of adaptability to their play last season, combined with a lack of quality in the final third, was the real killer of their campaign so seeing early signs of both of those elements improving will be great to see for Grayson.

Talking of final third quality it will have been another positive for Grayson to see Ged Garner finishing instinctively inside the box which was the real missing element to his game last time out.

Garner’s an intelligent player off the ball and finds himself in the right position when needed, alongside a workrate that enables him to keep up a high intensity throughout the 90 minutes, if he can improve in the final third he will be like a new signing.

And adding to that final third quality is the addition of Callum Morton who looked slightly off the pace when he made his debut in the 63^rd minute, but it is clear for all to see that, should he stay injury-free, he has the potential to score double figures.

After the failed loan spell of Kyle Vassell last season, the need for a goalscoring number nine is massive for Fleetwood, having also lost Ched Evans and Paddy Madden in recent times, a fully fit and firing Morton provides that.

Another plus point was the performance of Danny Andrew.

Andrew was a regular at wing back for the club last season, but Grayson, with the arrival of Max Clark earlier in the window, has looked to deploy Andrew at left centre back in the three.

It worked a treat.

The energy of Andrew allows him to provide an additional passing lane in progressive phases, with his ability to both overlap and underlap Clark helping to open up space out wide to deliver balls into the box.

Add to that his passing ability from deep in order to break the lines and his recovery pace in defensive play, he is essentially what the club hoped Charlie Mulgrew would be last season.

Andrew is an underrated figure in the Fleetwood team but it appears he has found a positional home where the main aspects of his game can be appreciated at left centre half.

James Hill got more minutes into the belt ahead of a huge season for a youth product that has all the attributes to be a future Premier League player and all in all there were an array of positives to take for Grayson as the season draws ever closer.

Should Fleetwood hold on to their young spine and continue to play with the intensity they showed in the first hour of this one, they may well be on for a better season than they would have initially anticipated.

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