“The preparation is proceeding as planned. We’ve played one friendly match so far. First and foremost, the players need to regain physical shape, as they naturally lose form during the summer”.
Idman.biz reports that these words were said by Shamakhi head coach Aykhan Abbasov in an interview with Sport24.az.
The experienced coach reflected on the team’s first pre-season friendly: “Our new signings are with us, and they need time to adapt. Yesterday we played our first friendly against Gabala. You can't expect to see the desired pace in the first match. Training has been intense, and the players are not in peak form. The important thing was for the players to follow our instructions. We used two lineups because the league is a long marathon, and we want to assess everyone.”
He added: “There are shortcomings, and we’ll work on them. This season, our league will start with 12 teams and follow a new format. There are now more competitive squads. We’ll fight against every opponent. We hope our new players adapt quickly.”
The friendly match ended with a 2–1 win for Gabala at the Gabala City Stadium.
Idman.biz
