WHITTS: KIMBO'S ENJOYING LIFE

Club News

City's playmaker talks team-mates and pre-season progress


Peter Whittingham spoke to press following Tuesday's 3-2 friendly defeat at Brentford, highlighting the reality of the pre-season schedule and looking towards the big Barclays Premier League kick-off in just 17 days time.

Whittingham played the full 90 minutes at Griffin Park, assuming the role of captain following the substitution of Mark Hudson midway through the second half.

And the long-serving midfield maestro was frank in response to the defeat - but also the nature of the summer run-outs.

"I thought in the first half we played some really good football, dominated possession and looked a really good team," said Peter. "In the second-half we were far too sloppy and gave silly goals away.

"We had a hard pre-season, put in a hard slog in Switzerland, but it’s all about games now. We’ve got a lot of games coming up and it’s about getting things right and as I said the second-half was sloppy tonight, the passing wasn’t there.

"It's going to take a little bit of time I suppose because we’ve not played that many games yet, but we’ll be ready for the start of the season."

Whitts also gave an intriguing insight into working alongside another man who's expected to take the top-flight by storm this coming season - Kim Bo-Kyung.

"He’s taking his English lessons and its coming on really well," said City's number 7. "Kimbo’s a good lad to have about, has a really good sense of humour and I think he’s enjoying it here."

And as for what City fans can expect from the Bluebirds' top-flight opposition starting in a few weeks time, Whitts commented: "It will be a completely different game – Premier League clubs keep the ball better and I don’t think you’ll see as much channel running as you've seen in pre-season or in the Championship.

"It’ll be a different test for us. It’s going to be a case of working on when to press, when to close down and when to drop off.

"It’ll be a tough test, but we’re going out to pick up a win at West Ham on opening day and look more like we did in the first forty-five minutes tonight."