to the new season

Russell Anderson previewed the new season this week in RedMatchday Magazine. To subscribe to RedMatchday please click here

…”It’s been a pretty intense period of time but we’ve done a lot of good work, both on our fitness and with the ball. The improvements that we’ve made in terms of sports science seem to be helping us, and we’ve done a lot of good tactical work, looking at the way we are going to set up this season and the kind of football we’ll be looking to play.

…”I picked up a bit of a knock at Peterhead that put me out of the FC Twente game, but it was nothing too serious and I’ve been back in training this week. We’d already done the hard yards in pre-season before that, so fortunately, it didn’t really set me back at all.

…”I think the manager and the club did really well to get some new faces in as early as they did, so that they have had plenty of time to blend in with the squad. I’m sure a lot of fans will be looking forward to getting their first look at the new guys on Saturday, but hopefully those of us who have been here a while will have something to contribute too!

…”Having seen the way preparation has gone and the changes we’ve made to the squad, I have to say that I’m optimistic about the season ahead. Unfortunately, I was pretty optimistic about last season too, and that didn’t go to plan in the end.

…”Being realistic, I think when we look back at last year, having so many 0-0 games at Pittodrie really cost us. If we could have converted four or five of those into wins, it would have been a completely different season.

…”I think we have the creativity and the firepower to do that now .

…”I’m hopeful that we can have a really strong season but, like I said, it is all too easy to be optimistic at this time of year. What you need to do is put the performances in, right from day one.”

To read the captain’s article in full buy a copy of RedMatchday on Saturday.