Saturday 27th July, 2013 at 1:58pm
Yesterday’s fixture with AEL Limassol brought our pre-season fixtures to an end and manager Alan Archibald was happy with what he had witnessed against more than decent opponents.
Said Alan;
“They were in the Europa League last season and they beat Marseille and they had a wee run in the Champions League. You could see right away that they had a bit of quality about them.”
He continued
“I felt like the game was a breath of fresh air compared to what we had been playing. I think when you play so many friendlies they become a little tedious. To be fair there was a wee competitive edge about Limassol today. They left their foot in a bit which I don’t mind as long as nobody gets injured because it gives the game a little edge.”
Alan went on;
“I thought that we looked good. I thought our shape was good and we moved the ball about well. I thought we looked sharp and I felt that we looked fit on a hot day. Overall I was delighted. I know the changes are frustrating for the fans; it is for us as well and it upsets the rhythm of the game but you’ve got half an eye on injuries and you need to give other players some game time as well. It was a good workout though.”
Both Stuart Bannigan and Sean Welsh made a welcome return from injury yesterday and the manager was delighted to report that they both came through the game without any problems.
“That was a really pleasing thing because they haven’t played much football. Stuart Bannigan has probably just trained for two weeks and played two halves of football so it was good to give him some game time. It was good too to see Sean back. He’s made something of a miracle recovery which I’m delighted about. He trained the last few days and obviously played today and I’m really happy about that.”
He continued;
“We gave them that extra time at the start of the second half because the physio likes to see if there is any reaction after they’ve had a time to settle at half-time and the muscles seize up a little. It was good to see that there was no reaction and that they both felt good.”
