OLE: A GOOD WORKOUT AT BATH CITY
. The only negative of the day was the withdrawal of Kévin Théofile-Catherine in the second half, which resulted in City playing a large spell of the second forty five with ten men.Bath City was satisfied with the squad work-out on Saturday, as the focus on reaching optimal match fitness for the season opener continued on a dry afternoon at hosts Ole Gunnar SolskjærCardiff City manager
“It was a typical pre-season friendly,” Ole said after the game. “After just two weeks back we saw some heavy legs out there, but that’s expected and fine at this stage. The tempo was slow because it’s warm and dry, but we got the work done, which is what’s most important.
“You never like to concede goals or not win games, but we’ve had two good weeks of season preparation, including today.
“The only worry today was in Kévin coming off, as you don't like to lose a player. It looks like he’s tweaked his groin or a thigh, but hopefully it won’t be too bad. We’ll have to take a look at it and still plan to take him to Austria, along with the other players, even if that’s for treatment.”
“For the boys who came through the second half having played with ten men for so long, it’s a good workout. They certainly put a shift in, which is what it’s about at this stage of pre-season.”
Ole then gave an update on some of the players yet to feature in pre-season match action, saying, “Marshy tweaked something in training last week, so we’ll give him until we go to Austria to get settled.
“Craig will have another test on his groin again, so we we’ll have to see how he is. He’s not been training with us since the last game. It might be something that he’ll have to get looked at at some point, as it’s an issue we had trouble with last season too. It’s come back after the summer, so we’ll have to look into it. (Kagisho Dikgacoi and Juan Cala) aren’t ready to play yet, but both will get there soon.”
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With the transfer window open, speculation on player arrivals and departures is always a part of pre-season attention. And though Ole refused to discuss individuals linked with moves away, he did cover some views on how the Bluebirds could exploit the attacking options at their disposal.
“We’re working to see who we can confirm as being with us from the first day of September,” he said. “With the way the transfer window works, anything can happen up until the end of August, so nothing is definitive until then. At the moment we have a big enough squad as it is. We had two teams today and another left back home.
“We’ve got some some exciting attacking players who can link up well together. Me might play a number of formations, depending on the game, though I do like the look of having two up front. For Kiko (Macheda) and Javi (Guerra), they work together well and have also struck up a good relationship off the field. It looks like it could be an interesting partnership.
“I also think Alfie (Adam Le Fondre) looked really sharp today as well, while Joe’s clever movement nearly saw him score a few times in the box. Nicky (Maynard) is another player who’s not managed to have a proper pre-season for a while. He played forty five minutes in the last game and has worked incredibly hard. I didn’t want to take a risk with him, so left him home.”
Cardiff City next prepare for the pre-season trip to Austria next Thursday. For the best behind the scenes coverage possible, sign up to Cardiff City Player today.
