FC Halifax Town 4-1 Fylde: Wild praises his "ruthless" Shaymen after impressive win

Liam McAlinden, Tobi Sho-Silva, Cameron King and Jerome Binnom-Williams all found the net as Town made it four wins out of their first six games of the season.

"I asked the players to be ruthless today," said Wild.

"We were up against a team that's not been in the greatest of form, a team that's been up at the top end of the table for a number of years.

"We had a real chance today to go and show our ruthless streak, and I thought you saw that in abundance, out of possession and in possession with how we took our goals.

"Let's be honest we should have had more today."

Wild said the result was "really pleasing" and was especially satisfied that the work done on the training ground was reflected in the performance.

"We've had a week now to embed stuff we want, and me and Chris (Millington) have said after the game that the most pleasing part is we're seeing things we're working on, they're trying to do it in games.

"There's no better feeling as coaches than going out on a Saturday and doing something they've worked on during the week.

"We've been talking about Cameron King taking one less touch, we've been talking about Liam McAlinden receiving the ball outside his full-back - they both did that and we scored (their first goal).

"With Jerome Binnom-Willians, we've been talking about patience when they get in behind the ball, we've moved it across two or three times, waited for our opportunity, and not given away possession, and he ends up driving through, which he's done in training this week, and gets his goal.

"They're things as coaches that really please you.

"If all the players work as hard as they can, you'll win more than you lose.

"If they work as hard as they can, they can all come off the pitch and pat each other on the back.

"It's a team game, a team performance, it's not just us, the supporters are in that as well.

"The togetherness at the moment is really pleasing, between players, staff and supporters, and we want more of that."

When asked if his side's performance against Fylde was the standard they now should aspire to, Wild said: "The standard's been set over the six games.

"We were unlucky against Wrexham, we switched off for one second and conceded.

"Aldershot, having watched it back, we weren't as bad as I thought we were.

"We're still a work in progress, there'll be times where it won't go our way.

"But we've got to keep working hard, keep our head down, not get carried away with what other people think, not get carried away with ourselves.

"If you remain grounded, there's always room for improvement."

Wild admitted there were a few nerves when Danny Rowe pulled one back for Fylde to make it 2-1 at half-time.

"There's always apprehension at 2-1, they scored just on half-time. A horrible time for us to concede," he said.

"But we just told them to get on the front-foot second-half, and the first five minutes of the second-half we dominated, and that pushed them back and allowed us to play the game we wanted to play.

"It was tough in the heat but we made the ball do the work, and that really pleased me.

"If you make the ball do the work on days like this, and you trust in the plan that we put out, you've always a chance."

Fylde came into the game on the back of another 4-1 defeat, at the hands of Woking, and Wild said there was a sense of vulnerability about the visitors.

"There always is when teams aren't in the greatest of runs, and we'll go through a stage where we won't be on the greatest of runs," he said.

"It's about how you claw yourself out of that.

"We picked up one point on the previous two games so it was really important to come back to The Shay and make it a fortress, and make sure that nobody comes here and has an easy ride.

"Fylde will be up there at the end of the season. They're having an early season blip, but let's be honest, they'll be up there.

"They'll regroup and go again, so to get one over on a team that will hopefully be in and around the same place we are at the end of the season is really pleasing."

On the returning Josh Macdonald, who made his first appearance since February last year as a late substitute, Wild said: "What a reception first and foremost.

"I said to him when he went on to remember all the down days doing his rehab, working hard and never thinking you're going to get back, and to go and play with a smile on his face and enjoy being back out with the lads.

"He's a good player, we just need to hold his hand a little bit and get him back to the levels he was.

"If we do that, he'll crack on."

Wild said he would "see what happens" but was "hopeful" about possibly adding to his squad after Niall Maher's hamstring injury.

"It is a blow," he said of the midfielder possibly being out for nine weeks. "It's a maximum of nine weeks, worst case scenario.

"He's a good lad, a good player, but he's got to get his head round that now and work as hard as he can and bring himself back into the side.

"But we'll pick up injuries across the season, that's life, and we've just got to crack on."