Luke O’Nien has been mounting praise on Daniel Ballard after being impressed with the young defender in training whilst reminiscing about past experiences against one another. He also shared his delight to see Jack Clarke again and he finishes it off with a positive outlook on this season.
BALLARD
"We've been playing together in training this week out here in Portugal, I imagine because we were going to play together against Rangers. I've built up a really good relationship with him.”
STALWART
"I remember playing against him two seasons ago when he was on loan at Blackpool and the first thing I said to him when he joined us was that we could have been playing against him for another three days and we still wouldn't have scored! I remember he was just brilliant at the back. He's a great addition to our team, not just as a player but as a human as well."
CLARKE
"Clarkey produced some magic for us last season and really contributed towards our promotion - big moments and that last minute assist against Sheffield Wednesday that got us into the final. It was good to see him, but I haven't really had much chance to catch up with him yet because he only arrived out here the other day.”
FAMILIAR FACES
"It's good to see faces who were so important last year and to keep a lot of that group together - Bailey Wright has signed a new contract, Goochy has signed a new contract, Pat Roberts has signed a new contract. Keeping those guys is so important because they all bring their own strongpoints to the team."
PAST EXPERIENCE
"I've played in the Championship before - for about three-and-a-half minutes! But I'm looking forward to playing there for real now. We've got players who have played at that level and above, so we're looking to use their experience to help everybody who hasn't played there. You've got the likes of Pritch [Alex Pritchard], Danny Batth, Pat Roberts, Bailey Wright, and these guys are setting the standards in training.”
HARD WORK
"We've got to keep on working and it's important we carry on out here and come back from Portugal in the best possible shape, and more importantly that when that first game of the season comes around, we are ready."
