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Clachnacuddin close to ready for Highland League kick off


By Andrew Henderson

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Clachnacuddin manager Jordan MacDonald believes his side are close to being ready for the Highland League season.

Clachnacuddin manager Jordan MacDonald.
Clachnacuddin manager Jordan MacDonald.

The countdown to kick off is well and truly on, with just eight days to go before the long-awaited 2021/22 campaign gets under way for HFL outfits.

After last season was practically over before it ever started, it feels like there has been a full 16-month build up to the new season – but it has not gone smoothly for everyone.

Many sides have seen training sessions and pre-season friendlies disrupted by positive cases of Covid-19, which have forced players and coaches into isolation.

Clach are just one of those teams affected, seeing three matches in the span of 10 days get called off.

They will return to Grant Street Park tomorrow to face Burghead though, and manager Jordan MacDonald hopes to add another match to the calendar next week to serve as the final preparation for the Lilywhites’ trip to Inverurie in the league next Saturday.

“We’re getting there, there are still a few issues to iron out but it’s nothing major, nothing that we’re concerned about,” he explained.

“We’re happy-ish with where we’re at at the moment.

“There’s still a wee bit to go with the way we want to do things, but the players have been brilliant.

“They have been patient, and they play the way we want them to, so we’re quite happy.”

Because of the nature of the truncated campaign in 2020/21, it still feels like MacDonald is implementing his own ideas, despite having been in charge for months.

One thing he has not been lacking is time on the training pitch though.

Sessions were able to resume last year ahead of the season, and then again a couple of months ago to build up to the new campaign.

So while matches have been few and far between, the familiarity is there, and MacDonald has been delighted with how the players have reacted to his style.

“We’ve been working on things since the day we came back,” he reasoned.

“We had a lot of time with the players in training last year, but you need to implement it in games, that’s where it counts.

“We only had two games last season, so we’ve had more games this time and more time on the training pitch. They have bought into it, so I have no complaints whatsoever.”


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