Brian Lenihan has said the importance of our pre season games out in Portugal has not been lost on the players as everybody has a chance to impress new manager Leonid Slutsky.
With us set to take on Oxford United and Bristol Rovers at Estadio da Noro in Albufeira on Saturday July 15 and Tuesday July 18 – both games 6.30pm kick offs) before going into the game against Portuguese giants Benfica on Saturday July 22 (8.30pm kick off), 23 year old Lenihan said he wasn’t alone in wanting to make sure he impressed the new gaffer ahead of the coming Championship campaign.
Speaking to the Official Site the Irishman said he was desperate to impress and hopefully get a good number of games under his belt for the first team, following his debut back in April 2016 against Bolton Wanderers.
‘Everyone wants to impress when a new manager comes in and it’s been no different here since we returned for pre-season training. I think the games we have over here will be really important for us all. They’re big games – even though they’re only friendlies – because it’s a chance for us all to prove our worth. I want to do well in them and stake my claim – as will everyone else in the squad.’
He went on to say that whilst the training camp was all about fitness and getting to know our new manager, having games built in was always best as it serves as a nice distraction and a variation to drill sessions.
‘The games are fantastic to have as part of our time in Portugal. A 12-day training camp seems a long time, but the fact we have three games will break it up for us and give us some variation, especially during the second week of our time over here. It’ll be good for everyone’s morale and the aim is to produce some positive performances as we look to pick up positive results.’
