WHUFC.com
West Ham United kick-off their pre-season tour in Austria on Wednesday
evening
15.07.2009
Steve Clarke is looking forward to West Ham United's first continental
challenge of the pre-season when they play Austrian side SVL Flavia Solva in
Wagna.
The Hammers got their domestic pre-season campaign off to a winning start on
Sunday with a 2-1 win at Grays Athletic and it is expected that they will
name a similar line-up for Wednesday's game, with kick-off at the Roman
stadium set for 6.30pm local time.
"We're not going to play any of the boys who missed the first week of
training," Clarke said. "We played two teams at Grays but we haven't brought
enough players with us to do a similar exercise here, so some of the players
will play a little bit longer.
"It will be a mixture of the experienced and not so experienced. It will be
a compilation of the players that played at Grays."
That means that the likes of new arrival Luis Jimenez, with two days of
training with his new team-mates behind him, Robert Green, Carlton Cole,
Matthew Upson and Luis Boa Morte - who joined the squad following Sunday's
game - are likely to have to wait until Saturday's game with Werder Bremen
for their first taste of action on the tour.
"Come Saturday the international players that joined us late should be in a
position to play 45 minutes so that would be the plan then," confirmed
Clarke. "We will look to integrate them into the team for 45 minutes
alongside the players that will have been there for two weeks."
The internationals' absence means youngsters Ollie Lee, Anthony Edgar and
Georg Grasser may get another chance to impress against Flavia Solva, who
won promotion to the Austrian Third Division last season.
"The selection process for the young players we have brought on tour was
that we knew the senior players we were bringing and then we picked the
younger players to fit in around them to make the training exercises work
properly.
"We need certain players for certain positions. That is the process, and
anyone who catches the eye you have to bring along."
Although keen to put in some competitive performances while on the tour,
Clarke believes the intensive nature of the team's training means that
positive results are not necessarily the first priority.
"By next Saturday the players will be very tired anyway. They will have
played two pre-season games with fatigue in their legs so the objective is
not really the result, but obviously it is nice to win.
"We're not aiming to lose the games but we know the games will be difficult
due to the level of fatigue that will be in the players' legs."
Clarke, alongside Gianfranco Zola, reserve team manager Alex Dyer and
fitness coach Antonio Pintus, have been pushing the squad hard, with tough
training sessions during the mornings and afternoons of non-match days.
Although the tour is still in its early stages, the first-team coach is
pleased with how the players have responded to the schedule.
"They are working very hard in training. The heat is making it a bit more
difficult for them but they are working well and so far all of the
objectives have been achieved.
"Out aim is to get them as fit as possible so they are ready for a long hard
season in the Premier League."
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