A good week ended with a disappointing result and performance, by all accounts, as we lost 0-2 away to Sheffield Wednesday.
The week itself was an odd one for me, after all of the squad having some time off Friday through Monday I returned early on Tuesday to find myself in a squad to fly off to Valencia for one night and a game against the Spanish giants on the Wednesday morning. The trip went very smoothly, it was a young squad we took over there - in fact I was the oldest member and also captain for the game. I’m sure we won many friends for the way we conducted ourselves over there on and off the pitch.
The game itself was a really interesting one to be involved in. Valencia had plenty of pressure without really hurting us, it was very hot despite the 10am kick-off but our young pro’s showed incredible fitness levels and we soon found ourselves one up after a fantastic run by Cedric Avinel was finished off by Lionel Ainsworth.
Soon after half-time we scored a second through a young Chinese lad called Lee, who I’m sure has a very bright future ahead of him. I was then called into action on a couple of occasions before they pulled one back. It was a deflected effort that I got a hand to but couldn’t put round the post and, deep into added time, they forced an equaliser with a far-post header.
It was disappointing not to hold on but the result was quite insignificant in comparison to the experience gained. We were up against some of the finest talents Spain has to offer and we more than competed and gained many plaudits from Valencia, so much so that I’m led to believe there could be some form of link formed between the clubs. We flew back Wednesday afternoon, a brief but enjoyable excursion. And on the fitness front, once again my knee felt fine and I felt in good form.
I was disappointed to arrive on Thursday morning and see that the squad had already been announced for the weekend’s game against Sheffield Wednesday before we had even trained and, needless to say, I was excluded.
I am fully fit now and was surprised not to be included but I’ve been in this position before and I’ve come through it before so it won’t change anything for me. I’ll continue to train hard, work on my game and I fully expect to be back involved soon.
I’ve never hidden the fact that I want to play games though so it may mean a short-term loan if an opportunity doesn’t present itself soon - but either way I’m sure this doesn’t change anything in regards to my long-term future.
So unfortunately I wasn’t there to witness the game myself on Saturday but I’ve got no doubt we’ll be back with a vengeance on Tuesday and yesterday’s performance will soon be forgotten.
See ya next week.