Plenty of positives to take into league campaign

AFTER four games, Bray Wanderers are ready for the 2019 campaign.

Cabinteely lie in wait and Pat Devlin was at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday to take in the Seagulls’ 0-2 loss against Bohemians.

New signings Luka Lovic and Killian Cantwell both played and had fine outings but the former has been vying for a spot in Gary Cronin’s squad since day one.

‘You’ve got to look to the underage as well. There’s some really, really good players down there.

‘I’ve spoken to a lot of U-19s players and I feel sorry for them because there’s that gap between U-19’s football and senior football. I’ve watched Luka a couple of times.

‘He played college football as well and there was a few players in that (of interest), Luka was one of them. He’s actually been with us since the start of pre-season and he’s really impressed with his training and his attitude. He’s a young player that wants to do well and we’re happy with him. You can see that he has ability, he played really well for the last 25 minutes. There’s definitely a future for him.

‘He can fill in, he can play centre half. He’s a strong lad. In the First Division, you need physicality as well and they’re the attributes you need to have as well. He’s only 19 years of age and he has the body of a grown man. He’s not a bad footballer. He’s a lot to learn but he’ll train well and train hard and he’s a good attitude.’

As a whole, Cronin has been pleased with how pre-season has panned out.

He now hopes to convert all the positives into a positive result on Friday week.

When asked what he thought Devlin might have made of the Co. Wicklow club, Cronin pondered for a moment before quipping ‘I don’t care’ followed by a hearty laugh. But what he does care about is how his side progressed over pre-season. He also didn’t rule out the prospect of more signings.

‘You always look to try and improve and while there is opportunities there, you look at certain things that might happen and certain things may or may not happen. If something will make us better then I will try to make it happen

‘You learn things from it and I may do things differently next time but the main thing is that we didn’t have 10 fellas injured by running them into the ground.

‘We’re getting ourselves ready for football. Results wise; we won two and lost two but we competed in all four games - maybe not for the whole game but we competed against really, really good opposition so that’s pleasing. I’m happy with the fitness levels. We’re ready.