Badger wrote:
From the OS.
Hughes wary of 'banana skin'
16/07/2008 19:00
Shortly after arriving safe and sound in the Faroe Isles with his squad, Manager Mark Hughes has faced the press at the Torsvollur Stadium ahead of tomorrow night’s UEFA Cup first qualifying round tie against EB/Streymur.
And having heard quotes from the chairman of the opposition claiming City wouldn’t have it easy against the Faroese side, Hughes said: “You never know what’s going to happen and I suppose it’s our banana skin because they’ve got nothing to lose.
“We’ll approach it in a professional manner. It’s part of our pre-season but it has consequences for the rest of the season as well.
“We’re here with a strong team and the right attitude.”
Attitude aside the one thing the Manager is worried about at this time of year though is fitness levels.
He added: “It’s always a concern. I harp back to last year [with Blackburn] we played teams where over a long season, if you played them 10 times, you’d beat them nine times.
“There’s always that one game where if you don’t approach it in the right way then you can be embarrassed. We don’t anticipate that’s going to happen.
“The fitness element comes into it because obviously they’re ahead in that situation. But we’ve got big players, big athletes, and even though it’s still early in our preparations, we’ll expect to overcome them.
Finally, on the injury front Hughes confirmed: “Bernardo Corradi’s not travelled. He picked up a knock in the game [in Germany] and hasn’t trained since. He’s done some straight line running, but he has trained fully because of the bang on his knee.”
Leon Collins
He's gonna get 20 this season.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
