"Group effort" all-important at AFC Fylde for manager of the month Adam Murray

Fylde head to Peterborough Sports tomorrow on the back of Tuesday’s goalless draw at Kettering Town – only the second time they have dropped points in nine games this year.

Five of those wins and the first draw (with Chester) came during January and earned Murray the Vanarama National League North manager of the month award.

He told The Gazette: “I know it’s a cliche but it’s a team effort. Everyone has bought into what we’re trying to do, players and staff, and the fans have been brilliant in terms of getting onside. It’s a group effort and we need more of the same.”

Fylde have maintained their form with seven points from three outings this month and stand a point clear at the top with a game in hand on second-placed King’s Lynn Town.

Tuesday’s stalemate saw Fylde fail to score in a league game for the first time in five months but Murray was impressed with his charges.

He said: “Overall I think it will be a really good point. They play to their strengths with the pitch and we knew what we were coming into.

“We couldn’t get into our normal rhythm, so we had to tweak things and play a little differently because of the pitch but I thought the players were outstanding in carrying that out.

“You could see in our team selection we were a little more robust.”

That included playing central defender Harry Davis in midfield, while Nick Haughton came off the bench, having missed Saturday’s 3-0 win at AFC Telford United with a back injury.

Murray said: “We tried Harry in the midfield in a friendly last week and he was brilliant in terms of his discipline and his positioning. I thought this game was perfect for him and he was really good in there.

“Nick still wasn’t 100 per cent but he wants to play in every game, so we’ll see how he is for Saturday.”

With a Tuesday match every week until the end of March, Murray admits the days between games are more about recovery than training.

“We brought a guy in on Wednesday who specialises in recovery,” he said. “The lads bought into that and hopefully it does the trick.

“We were able to get a lot of grasswork done when games were being called off and hopefully that has prepared us in the right way.”

Tomorrow’s mid-table hosts Peterborough Sports can match Fylde’s record of seven points from their last three and Murray warned: “I watched Fylde beat them 1-0 here just before I arrived and they are a very organised side, who are having a great season.

“It will be tricky, with the pitch and environment, but I believe that wherever we go we’ll have a chance if we get our gameplan right.”