Striker praises visiting Swans and performance of the City team
Following his first appearance at St James Park in an Exeter City shirt, summer signing Sam Parkin offered praise to both the talented visiting Swansea City squad and his own teammates for a positive performance.
The Swans showed their Premier League class to take a 2-0 win and played some sumptuous football at times to slice open the City defence, in the same way they have been unlocking defences in the Premier League for the past two seasons. But there were certainly positives to be drawn from the game, and Sam was happy to have turned out in the red and white at the Park for the first time against such prodigious opposition.
“It was good – obviously we were playing against very good opposition, so it was a tough game,” said Parkin. “I think at times we probably showed them too much respect, but then Swansea are a fantastic side so you have to give them credit. But I enjoyed it and I’m pleased to get another game out the way before the start of the season.
“It’s the way they pass the ball, with their interchanging and movement amongst their front three especially, and the shape they play with Michu and with Dyer and Routledge off him. They interchange really well and it’s hard for our defenders to cope with. But I think there are some definite positives from the game – the young lads did well again and some players got 90 minutes under their belt.
“All of them can take the ball, even when they’re marked and very rarely do they give the ball away. It’s the quality on the ball and the incisive movement when they try to cut our back four open.”
Like any pre-season friendly, the result ultimately wasn’t important but the forthcoming friendlies are an opportunity to fine-tune the work that has gone in over pre-season ahead of the season’s opener against Bristol Rovers on Saturday 3rd August.
The Grecians host the Pirates in the first game of the Sky Bet League 2 season at St James Park on the opening weekend and Parkin believes that the performances and ability to stick to the task will be an important part of the next two friendlies against Yeovil Town and Weston-super-Mare.
“The more important games will be Tuesday [against Yeovil] and Thursday [against Weston] leading up to the start of the season,” he continued.
“We’ll start to look closely at performances and the shape of the side, because the manager is running out of time before the start of the season. I’m sure he’ll start to think about the first game of the season and who’s going to be turning out.”
Exeter City's next home game at St James Park is the Bristol Rovers game on the opening weekend of the season. Click here for ticketing details for the Sky Bet League 2 match.
Exeter City's next home game at St James Park is the Bristol Rovers game on the opening weekend of the season. Click here for ticketing details for the Sky Bet League 2 match.