Walsall boss Michael Flynn pointed to a “mentality shift” at the club as the catalyst for his side’s 4-0 opening-day mauling of Hartlepool.A debut hat-trick from on-loan striker Danny Johnson, after Brandon Comley’s deflected opener, earned Walsall victory and only a string of saves from Pools keeper Ben Killip kept the score down.Walsall were taken over by American inves...Full Story »

Derby interim manager Liam Rosenior believes the international pedigree of Conor Hourihane can drive his team forward this season.The Republic of Ireland midfielder scored a superb goal in front of a 31,000 crowd to give Derby a 1-0 victory over a spirited Oxford.The visitors certainly impressed and will look back on a first half in which they more than matched Derby but could not take their cha...Full Story »

Paul Simpson reckoned the only thing missing from Carlisle’s opening win of the season against Crawley was “a bagful of goals”.Otherwise, the United chief was “absolutely delighted” by his team’s success, courtesy of a fifth-minute Kristian Dennis strike.Crawley’s debutant goalkeepers Ellery Balcombe – replaced at half-time due to injury – an...Full Story »

Reading manager Paul Ince felt his side deserved better after starting the Championship season with a 1-0 defeat at Blackpool.Ince saw his side beaten by Callum Connolly’s ninth-minute strike at Bloomfield Road.But the Reading boss felt their performance showed the progress they have made over the summer“I’m really disappointed because I thought we were excellent in the second ...Full Story »

Millwall manager Gary Rowett was delighted with how Charlie Cresswell seized his opportunity after the centre-back’s two goals on his debut helped his new side to a comfortable victory over Stoke.Cresswell has family connections with the Potters, as his father Richard was part of the squad promoted to the Premier League in 2008, but there was no room for sentiment for the Leeds loanee.The ...Full Story »

Liverpool new boy Darwin Nunez struck first blood in the battle of the summer super-signings with an encouraging 30-minute cameo which was capped with the final goal in a 3-1 win over Manchester City in the Community Shield.City, last season’s Premier League champions, and Liverpool, the FA and Carabao Cup winners, both paraded their big-money acquisitions at Leicester’s King Power S...Full Story »

Mark Bonner was delighted with Cambridge’s commitment to keeping MK Dons quiet in their 1-0 League One win at the Abbey Stadium.The U’s sealed victory thanks to an excellent Harvey Knibbs goal in the early stages and then did well to prevent Liam Manning’s side from managing a shot on target.Matt Smith hit the bar in the opening minutes, but it was as close as the visitors woul...Full Story »

New Barrow boss Pete Wild thanked the bookies who had apparently written his team off ahead of a brilliant 3-2 victory on the opening day at newly-promoted Stockport.The Bluebirds produced a clinical first-half performance, scoring three goals to dampen Edgeley Park’s celebrations of County’s return to the Football League after 11 years away.Wild, who joined Barrow from FC Halifax To...Full Story »

Blackburn head coach Jon Dahl Tomasson felt the “togetherness” of his team and supporters was even more important than the result after his reign began with a 1-0 victory over QPR.Tomasson, who previously managed Swedish outfit Malmo to two league titles, enjoyed a winning start thanks to newly-appointed captain Lewis Travis’ spectacular 34th-minute curling strike from 25 yards...Full Story »

Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes felt his team more than merited their opening-day 1-1 draw against Dundee United.More than 8,000 crammed into Rugby Park to see Ash Taylor’s late equaliser cancel out Dylan Levitt’s opening goal for the visitors, who had Ian Harkes sent off midway through the second half.This was Kilmarnock’s first game back in the Premiership after winning promoti...Full Story »

St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson has called for ‘consistency’ after his 10-man side were stung by a late goal in a 1-0 defeat to Hibernian at McDiarmid Park on the opening day of the cinch Premiership season.Josh Campbell’s late header appeared to go in off team-mate Rocky Bushiri as the away side eventually made their pressure tell in the 90th minute of the match.The Saint...Full Story »

Leam Richardson felt his Wigan side gave “a good account of themselves” as they drew 0-0 with Preston on their return to the Sky Bet Championship.Last season’s League One winners gave as good as they got at the DW but could not force home their numerical advantage in the last 10 minutes.Preston substitute Ched Evans was sent off for a two-footed lunge on a grounded Curtis Tilt,...Full Story »

Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore praised the character of his players after they twice surrendered the lead and had to come from behind to equalise late on in a 3-3 draw against Portsmouth.Wednesday took an eighth-minute lead in the Sky Bet League One contest when Josh Windass drilled the ball across the face of goal and Johnson applied the finish.Connor Ogilvie equalised five minutes in...Full Story »

Shrewsbury boss Steve Cotterill was left with mixed emotions after an opening-day 0-0 draw against Morecambe at the Mazuma Stadium.The Shrews boss believed his new-look team deserved to win the game against the Shrimps but was happy to avoid a repeat of last season’s poor start.He said: “A point is better than this time last year and the performance was a lot better too. I think we d...Full Story »

Bradford manager Mark Hughes fears Emmanuel Osadebe’s season could be ‘cut short’ after he suffered a suspected broken leg on his debut in a 0-0 draw with Doncaster.Play was stopped for eight minutes before the winger was stretchered off. Doncaster’s Liam Ravenhill was booked for the foul that caused the early injury and was substituted straight away by manager Gary McShe...Full Story »

Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna felt his side deserved to win the opening game of the Sky Bet League One season against Bolton at Portman Road.Bolton began the game well and deservedly went ahead through Aaron Morley’s penalty after Leif Davis tripped Liverpool loanee Conor Bradley in the box.Ipswich responded through Lee Evans following a clever low corner from Conor Chaplin, and the hosts we...Full Story »

Plymouth boss Steven Schumacher admitted the 1-0 home win over Barnsley was the “best way to start the season”.Aston Villa attacking midfielder Finn Azaz, who has joined Argyle on a season-long loan, scored the 45th-minute winner with a superb first-time sidefoot strike into the top corner.Schumacher said:: “It’s three points on the board and a clean sheet so we’ve ...Full Story »

Colchester boss Wayne Brown heavily criticised referee Martin Woods after his side’s last-gasp defeat to Northampton, describing his performance as “one of the worst I have witnessed”.Sam Hoskins gave Northampton a 27th-minute lead at Sixfields but a contentious penalty, converted by Freddie Sears, levelled things up shortly before half-time.Another debatable spot-kick, this ti...Full Story »

Jubilant Harrogate boss Simon Weaver hailed his new-look team following a thumping 3-0 opening-day victory over Swindon.Weaver included seven summer signings in his starting XI, including on-loan Huddersfield midfielder Matty Daly, who marked his debut with a spectacular strike in between efforts from Alex Pattison and Jack Muldoon.The visitors, meanwhile, saw their impressive record of winning ...Full Story »

Mark Kennedy was pleased to pick up a point in his first game as Lincoln boss after the Imps came from behind to earn a draw against newly-promoted Exeter.Sam Nombe fired the visitors ahead following an excellent start by Matt Taylor’s side, but Tom Hopper levelled matters just after the break with a deft header.Both sides pushed for a winner late on, but a draw was probably a fair result....Full Story »