Tom Shaw says Friday’s friendly against Leyton Orient will provide an ideal opportunity to put a productive week of work into practice as the Imps round off their warm-weather training camp in Spain.
City take on Orient at the Pinatar Arena in their second pre-season outing, with Shaw keen to see the progress made on the training ground transferred into a competitive match environment.
He said: “We’ve had a really productive week out here. The players have worked hard in some demanding conditions, and we’ve been able to get a lot into them both on and off the pitch. Now it’s about taking what we’ve worked on during the week and putting it into practice in a game.
“Pre-season naturally steps up another level when you get into these fixtures. Training is where you build the foundations, but matches give you the opportunity to test those ideas under more stress.”
The head coach has been pleased with the application shown by his squad throughout the camp and believes the fixture is another important step towards the start of the Sky Bet Championship season.
He said: “The lads have embraced everything we’ve asked of them, and we’ve seen real progress across the week. This match gives us another opportunity to build on that and continue moving in the right direction.
“Leyton Orient will provide a good test. The result is never the main focus at this stage, but we want to see winning habits and traits from the group and also the principles we’ve been working on coming through.
“We’ll continue to manage the players carefully because it’s still early in pre-season, but everyone understands that the intensity increases from here. Every minute on the pitch is valuable as we build towards the start of the campaign.”
A strong travelling contingent of Imps supporters is expected to be at the Pinatar Arena, and Shaw was quick to thank those who have made the journey to back the team.
Shaw added: “It’s been fantastic to see supporters making the trip over to Spain.
“We never take that support for granted, especially when people have travelled such a long way to watch us in pre-season. We look forward to seeing them, and having a chat and a big group photo of the Imps family after the final whistle.”
Friday's match kicks off at 4pm BST/5pm local time. The match will be streamed live on Imps+ - click here to buy a pass.
Are you out in Spain for the match? Stay behind in the stand afterwards so the players can thank you for your support and get a group picture with players and staff.
