|
" To be quite honest it's been a big test for all of us this week, looking at the lads it's a plus that we've got through it and look a lot fitter and stronger than last season at the first week. That's a bonus and I'm happy to just be a part of that and get through it with them, which is great. People have to move on in football, I wish the old players all the best and I know the players do who are at the club as well.
" Danny (Graham) is a cracking lad, I didn't get to play with him last season but what I did see of him was fantastic. The crowd like him, he came through, he got his goals when he was playing and I just think that we are very lucky to have him at the club because he is a very good player.
" I just wanted to do as much as I could, at first it felt a bit rusty and Dolly (Neil Dalton) said that would happen anyway. Other than that though my knee has really held up really well through the first week of pre-season which I'm massively blessed about because I thought I would actually struggle with it. I've managed to come through with it though with flying colours and I'm getting ready for the second week which I know is going to be harder.
" It's a bit of everything in the morning, we do the running session and then just before lunchtime we do weights with Faz (Page) which is going to be a massive plus for us this season. It will make us fitter and stronger as well and then we go on to possession so there is a lot of hard work in there anyway but with the minutes and getting in on the clock times the gaffer (Neil McDonald) and Greg (Abbott) are really pushing us. It's helping out massively, I reckon that in the first week we are definitely fitter and stronger than we were last year. "
" I'm just really happy to be here training but the games are just going to be a massive plus as well, I'm really looking forward to those. The new lads that have come in have blended in with the team really well and the lads have looked after them. I know they are new faces but it just seems like they have been here for quite a while even though it's just a week. They have got in to know everyone with a week really quickly so I think they are fantastic anyway.
" What we proved last season I'm sure we can prove again, we've got the ability as a squad to really do well and I know that the gaffer wants to push us to do that. You see that he has got the ambition to go forward and I know that the lads who are here at the moment want to win things. I say let's go for it definitely. I just want to get through a 90 minutes, that would be great for me.It's going to get harder next week but I'm sure I'll get through it, definitely. I don't have a clue what is in the programme next week, he is just surprising us every day, we've still got a few more weeks to find out.
" At the end of the day it's about believing in your own ability and I think that if you can push and work hard to 110%, you've just got to keep on smiling and keep on playing really. I'm really looking forward to trying to get into that first-team squad. He moved me to centre-midfield last season which I didn't think I'd be able to do but I managed to cope with it quite well after I had learned that position and been taught it by the manager and Greg.
" I'm sure that if play on the right that it can't be any different to playing on the left, I just need to keep running at people and trying to get crosses in. I don't care where, as long as I am on that teamsheet I'll be all smiley faces. "