United bout has Fitzwater fired up
Defender confident after taking on Pogba and Co
JACK FITZWATER insists he is prepared to hit the ground running in Scottish football after shackling Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Jack Grealish.
The Livingston defender was part of Slaven Bilic’s promoted West Brom squad last term and featured in a series of high-profile friendlies as English football prepared to resume following the enforced Covid-19 hiatus.
Those outings ensure the promising stopper has no doubt about his fitness and ability as he embarks on a new adventure north of the border, starting with today’s curtainraiser at St Mirren.
“I was still training with
West Brom from May and played in a few ‘pre-season’ games,” said Fitzwater. “Our first game was against Aston Villa and they had a really strong team out, with Jack Grealish playing.
“Against Manchester United I came up against Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba. There were so many big names and you can only learn from playing against guys like that.
“We did well too – we drew with Aston Villa and we beat Manchester United. United had arguably their strongest attack and midfield, and we won 2-1.
“Training at West Brom was a really high standard as they were trying to get promoted, which they managed to do, so I still felt fit and sharp when I signed for Livingston. I can hit the ground running.”
Meanwhile, St Mirren manager Jim Goodwin has vowed to learn from the mistakes he made during his first season in charge of the Premiership club.
The Buddies boss admits that he was guilty of setting his team up not to lose rather than chasing victory because of concerns over his own lack of top-flight managerial nous.
Now, having clocked up 12 months of experiences in the top flight, the Irishman feels more assured about his own place in the Saints hot seat.
He said: “I’m a hell of a lot more prepared this time round. I’ve learned so much from that first season.
“I was probably a little bit naive, probably a little bit negative as well and possibly gave some of the teams too much respect, just because of my lack of experience at this level. A year on, I feel a lot better about my own ability in this league and I’m really looking forward to hopefully showing that.”
Goodwin is confident his new-look defence – comprising goalkeeper Jak Alnwick and defenders Marcus Fraser, Richard Tait, Joe Shaughnessy and Conor McCarthy – is tough enough to deal with Gary Holt’s no-frills outfit this afternoon.
He said: “It will be a physical test but Livingston are a decent team on the ball if you give them time and space.
“The lads will have to stand up to that but physically, I don’t think there will be too many teams who bully my lads this year. We’ve got a new goalkeeper in Jak Alnwick who we’ve got high hopes for.
“The back four look really strong and really physical. That was something I felt last season we needed to address
“We were quite a small team and I felt there were occasions were we looked a bit vulnerable from set plays.
“When I look at the back four now they are all big strong leaders.”