Marley is putting in the hard graft
Accies ace Marley Redfern has revealed he’s put his short spell on the sidelines to good use by working on bulking up and trying to add goals to his game.
The 19-year-old from Wishaw suffered a hamstring strain during a 2-2 draw with Partick Thistle on January 8, but now he is back in contention for a starting slot after a return to fitness.
He has been working closely with gaffer Stuart Taylor, the club’s sports scientists and analysis teams to improve his all-round game in recent weeks, and hopes it will start to pay off in upcoming games.
Redfern, who made a late substitute appearance in a 0-0 draw with Raith on February 5 but wasn’t used in last midweek’s 2-2 draw at Arbroath, said: “I was out with my hamstring for three or four weeks, so we’ve been working really closely with the gaffer and the sports scientist team as well.
“I’ve been doing upper body stuff, trying to get bigger.
“I’m still young but I can still improve, so I’ve been working really hard on that side of things. Specific programmes with the sports scientists to build up.
“Goals is the thing we’ve been looking at as well, trying to set a target to boost my numbers.
“We are working with the analysis team closely and we are looking to improve that.
“Now I’m back, I’m looking to help the team out. It would be good for me to get that [goals] but if I can help the team out with assists as well, hopefully we can push up the table as much as possible.”
Redfern spent most of last season out on loan at Blackburn United in the East of Scotland League, making just one Accies outing in the final game of last season - a 2-0 defeat at home to Kilmarnock that confirmed relegation to the Championship.
However, the midfielder has been a mainstay in Taylor’s team this term, making an impressive 26 appearances despite his injury concerns.
Redfern added: “This is my first year playing at this level.
“Last year I was out on loan and then with the circumstances of the team fighting relegation at the end of last season I wasn’t really involved that much.
“But this year has been massive for me so far and hopefully myself and the team have a good, strong end to the season and we push as hard as we can.”
That starts on Saturday when Accies host in-form Morton, who are unbeaten in six Championship games under new boss and Accies legend Dougie Imrie.
Accies are seventh in the Championship and below Ton on goal difference. The sides are meeting for the first time since Ton grabbed a 97th minute equaliser at Cappielow in October last year.
It was a real sickener and one Redfern hopes they can put right, with Accies going into the clash off the back of a strong showing against Arbroath in their last game.
”That 87th minute goals was dreadful for us. It was horrible to take,” Redfern admitted.
”But it’s not just been Morton, it’s happened quite a few times this season so we will be looking to put that to bed.
”If we do take the lead, we need to kill teams off early instead of holding on to a one goal lead.
“We’ve been playing well and even the game before Arbroath, against Raith, I felt we played really well.
“We didn’t get the result that we needed. A point up there is not bad but three points is what we were aiming for and we should have got it with our play on the park.
“So it’s about trying to kill teams off and get the three points this time.”