Efford keen to build after tough term
JOE EFFORD admits that Saturday’s humbling 6-0 loss at the hands of Celtic was not the way he and his team-mates wanted to sign off for the season but believes there are reasons to be positive ahead of the new campaign.
Motherwell started the league season in fine style but suffered a poor run of form as it progressed, eventually limping over the finish line to record a fifth-placed finish and confirm a place in the qualifying rounds of the Europa Conference League.
The weekend’s dispiriting defeat will have been hard to take for supporters of the Lanarkshire club but Efford believes that on the whole, it has been a successful year.
“It’s not the result we wanted on the final day, of course,” he said.
“It’s clear to everyone that we wanted to finish a place higher in the final table, but we are happy that we made Europe and we look forward to these things. Overall it has been a good season.
“European football is something to look forward to and to prepare for. It will be new for me and it is exciting.”
Efford is a new face at Fir Park after the left winger joined from Belgian second-tier outfit Waasland-Beveren in the January transfer window.
The 25-year-old American, who signed an 18-month contract and chipped in with three goals and an assist during the second half of the season, is happy with his contribution to the team and hopes to improve further under the guidance of manager Graham Alexander.
“I’m glad that after coming in January that I was able to help the team to reach their goals,” he added.
“Scottish football is a different thing to what I have been used to playing in the past with the physicality and the speed of the play being not the same I have known before.
“But the experience has been a good one and I am happy with the way I have adjusted to it all. Of course, with that in mind, I am looking forward to next season.
“The manager has done well and I am excited for the opportunity to keep working with him.
“He is a good character with me personally and I am pleased to be working for and with him.”