Cowan happy with early stages as Brackley prepare to head for the Isle of Man

The Saints were beaten 2-1 at Daventry Town in the Hobbs Memorial Match last Saturday before being held to a goalless draw at Redditch United on Monday night.

Brackley are now preparing for a trip to the Isle of Man this weekend. The squad will leave on Friday and play a friendly against FC Isle of Man on Saturday evening.

And boss Cowan insists the hard work will continue during their getaway.

“They have been good,” Cowan said as he reflected on the first two friendlies.

“The big focus has been on making sure we are getting minutes and staying healthy.

“We have been quite dominant in both games without converting so we need to be more clinical in front of goal but there’s been loads for us to be happy about.

“There are positive signs but I know the players have been a bit frustrated that they haven’t been able to capitalise on their dominant possession.

“We have another five games before the season starts and, so far, I have been pleased.

“We will have a good training session this week and work the lads quite hard and then we will go away on Friday and have a couple sessions and a game while we are away.

“We will certainly be getting a lot of work into the lads’ legs.”

Cowan and his players, meanwhile, now know they will head to Chorley on the opening day of the Vanarama National League North season on Saturday, August 5 after the fixtures were released last week.

“I genuinely think they are all tough games, there’s no easy ones in this league,” he added.

“So we will go to Chorley and play the cards we have been dealt.

“We will go and give the best account of ourselves that we can and try to get the right result.”