I’m steadily getting back to the rhythm of training. I’ve resumed full training, and it just feels great to be fit again. It’s just a case of sharpening up now and getting myself fit for the FA Youth Cup in two weeks time. That’s the target anyway.
We’ve got Dulwich Hamlet (away) in the Youth Cup and while they are not the household name of a Manchester United, Arsenal or Liverpool we’ve got to make sure that we give them the proper respect and approach the tie in the right manner.
Not preparing properly is preparing to fail and the fact that they’ve already beaten Yeovil Town shows that they are not to be underestimated.
I’m sure their lads as well as our own would’ve loved the tie to have been at St James’ Park but we’ll go there and get to look at the other side of football.
I’m not foolish enough to think that everyone in our ranks will play in the Premiership or even have a long career in the game. Stats tell you that simply won’t happen but going to Dulwich will certainly act as an incentive to our players to make sure they play as high as possible.
I believe their tie with Yeovil went to extra-time – while I could use the fitness work I’m not sure I’m hopeful that we can get a result within the 90 minutes.
I’m looking forward to that game as they will be full of confidence so it should be a great encounter.
You’ve probably all seen the news and the snow up here in the North East. Well it’s playing havoc with our training schedule. While we’ve not resorted to running up the stands at St James’ yet it’s a nightmare when you get weather like this as you have to go indoors or get in the gym more to keep yourself sharp.
Finally I did make a bit of a breakthrough recently in a youth friendly with Darlington.
We drew 3-3 and played some great football at times, kept and moved the ball well and felt great to be playing again. I was only allowed to play in 45 minutes of the game but it felt great being out there.
We followed that up with an 11v11 against the Reserves to prepare us for the challenges ahead and I felt that went reasonably well considering where my fitness is at.
I’m enjoying my football at the moment, the mood is high around the facility, and we’re all just making the most of it really.
