I’ve been with Preston over 10 years and I’ve been captain for around 8 years so I have worked with several managers of all different styles and abilities over those years. The pre seasons have been totally different with each manager. From the old school style of being run into the ground to the more technical more football related training. This pre season has been Chris’s first with us and its been very enjoyable with a mix of hard work and technical drills and fazes of play. The main focus though has been ball related which most players prefer, but also putting in the hard work in each session.
We do a hard dynamic warm up with SAQ sessions, fazes of play and finish with either small sided games or larger ones. We also have fitness testing prior to pre season after pre season and then throughout the season to ensure all players are improving and doing their own aerobic work. With much of the hard work behind us we are now playing in tournaments and friendlies to be match fit and sharp for the start of the season.
Our aim this season is to win the league and get into the national league, its will be a hard ask but something I am confident we as a club can do and I would love to have the chance to play against the best players in the country week in week out before i hang my boots up. The club has been going from strength to strength off the field and we have come a long way in the last 5 or 6 years. Last season was hard as there was so much change within the club that I feel it affected our results on the pitch.
The key this season is consistency we had some really good performances last season but we weren’t consistent, we need to sometime work together more and sometimes its a battle and you have to be mentally strong to fight for results against some teams. We are a foot balling team and this season we need to do the dirty side better, but i believe we have the players and management staff to achieve our goals.
Being captain is a great honour and its a role I enjoy and thrive on. I try and ensure I play hard and work hard and hopefully this rubs of through the team. I take the role as captain very seriously I have an excellent relationship with both the players and the manager. I just hope I can take our team into the national league and il be doing my up most for this to happen on and off the field whilst im still playing.
