Dickman Will Not Dismiss Shields Pre Season Suffering

He says he wants his team in better shape for the Vanarama National League North season - and refused to brush off their latest tough afternoon.

On Saturday, Hartlepool United strolled to a convincing victory at the 1st Cloud Arena.

That came a week after Sunderland swatted the Mariners aside with easy - and the head coach is clearly a little concerned by what he has seen.

“We need to get out of the habit of making these terrible errors that we’re making,” he said following the challenging weekend.

“We concede a goal and all of a sudden we’re all over the place.

“When you find yourself behind there’s a way to react and we didn’t do it the right way. There’s room for improvement.

“I’m disappointed in a number of aspects and the result is not what we wanted. We did well in some areas but we have got to be a lot better when we haven’t got the ball.

“We’ve got to stop making these terrible mistakes. I don’t want to stand here like a broken record, but we’ve got to make sure we put things right.”

South Shields, who begin their campaign with a trip to Hereford in August 10, face another stern test on Saturday when they face Grimsby Town.

Dickman, who signed a contract until 2026 in March, did find some plus point from the weekend white-wash.

“The younger lads have shown some good qualities and those moment will probably be the main positives,” he went on.