Cambridge United win pre-season friendly at St Albans City: Five key talking points from Clarence Park

Cambridge United supporters got their first chance to cast an eye over their team this summer during yesterday’s 3-1 victory at lower-league St Albans City.

For the U’s it was a third pre-season friendly after behind-closed-doors encounters with Cardiff City and Tottenham Hotspur – and it provided Mark Bonner’s men with the opportunity to get some more minutes into their legs ahead of the big kick off on Saturday, August 5 at home versus Oxford United.

Below are five of the bigger talking points that came out of Clarence Park.

- 1) Club legend continues to show the way to goal

Talk about continuing from where you left off! Just when you thought that Harrison Dunk could not make United fans love him more than they already did, he ended last season by scoring three priceless goals during the final six fixtures. To put that into some context, in the four campaigns prior, the 32-year-old had found the net just once.

But perhaps the end of 2022/23 was no fluke. Those three goals all came from corners, as did his opener against St Albans. George Thomas’ first attempt hit the first man but the ball rebounded back to him and his near-post delivery was duly glanced in by a player with the club’s record number of appearances firmly in his sights.

Every time that Dunk ventures forward now for a set piece there is a genuine sense that he could provide the finishing touch and while it’s unreasonable to assume he’ll continue at the current rate, if he could weigh in with at least five goals next term, that could prove invaluable.

- 2) Lankester looking lively

After being in and out of the starting XI during the first half of last season, it felt like from February onwards that Jack Lankester started to lay down some genuine roots within the United line-up.

Playing in that attacking midfield role, Lankester began to have a telling impact on games with a low centre of gravity that allows him to get away from opponents, while he also showed a scoring touch with goals against Fleetwood Town and Morecambe – as well as having what looked to be a legitimate goal chalked off at MK Dons.

And while the standard of the opposition should be taken into account on this occasion, it would be fair to say that Lankester was United’s brightest spark during his hour or so on the pitch. It was his shot that was deflected over for a corner which resulted in Dunk’s goal and there was also a couple of other attempts that forced the St Albans goalkeeper into action. He also looked to get the ball into the feet of Gassan Ahadme whenever possible and then smartly jinked into a position to receive the return pass – signs of a budding understanding between the two.

- 3) Goalkeeper getting his feet under the table

Truth be told there was not too much for Jack Stevens to do in terms of shot stopping or coming for crosses. And United’s likely new number one could do little to prevent the St Albans goal, which was scored by one of the home side’s many trialists, who ghosted into the box in between the two Bennetts – Ryan and Liam.

Where Stevens did catch the eye, though, was with the ball at his feet, which in the modern day seems to be a key facet of a goalkeeper’s repertoire.

He rarely looked rushed in possession, was happy to draw in opposition attackers before releasing the ball and he also dealt particularly well with one tricky back pass from James Brophy that forced him out wide towards the corner flag.

- 4) By George! Hoddle has bags of potential

Supporters got the opportunity to see a number of last season’s FA Youth Cup heroes during the last half an hour, minus Glenn McConnell, who was presumably carrying a knock.

One of those – Brandon Njoku – scored with a neat finish, while Kai Yearn’s drilled shot resulted in the third goal for Saikou Janneh and George Sandiford grazed the crossbar with a cross from the left flank. But perhaps the pick of the bunch was George Hoddle, who looked comfortable in the middle of the pitch alongside Lewis Simper. Such is the regard in which the club holds Hoddle’s potential, they recently tied him down to a three-year professional deal.

And after the final whistle head coach Mark Bonner suggested that he could leave the club on loan at some stage to further his development. He said: “George Hoddle is flying at the moment. He’s had a brilliant pre-season so we’ll have some good options on loan for him, but we’re not in any rush to send him out.”

- 5) Haunstrup haunted by same old issue

It may be a new season but Brandon Haunstrup is being plagued by an all too familiar problem. The left-back, who joined the club 12 months ago, was limited to just eight appearances last season – and just one of those (against Arsenal Under-21s in the EFL Trophy) lasted for 90 minutes.

It was a reoccurring calf injury that was responsible for a large majority of his absences – and the complaint has struck again. Bonner has revealed that the left-back is set to visit a specialist in the coming days to learn the extent of the damage, but it does not sound like he is anywhere near challenging for a place in the squad. With Dunk and new signing Danny Andrew both competing for his position, you have to wonder if Haunstrup will ever be able to force his way into the reckoning.

Of the other absentees from yesterday, Andrew was suffering from an illness while Jordan Cousins, who only joined the club on Thursday, is building up his fitness. Defender Zeno Ibsen Rossi is a couple of weeks away from being involved while Adam May is still working his way back from cruciate knee ligament damage. He could be back in full training some time in September.

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