Grecians striker buoyant and fully-fit in crucial season build-up
EXETER CITY FRONTMAN JAMIE REID hailed a bright performance from a battling young Grecians side after Fluminense’s Under-19s left St James Park with a 2-0 win.
Reid, who played the full ninety minutes in Monday’s historic match, felt that the City players involved did themselves proud.
“I felt we played okay,” Reid said. “Obviously, towards the end of the game we were beginning to tire, but overall I think the boys did well.
“They were technically so good, but I thought that we dealt with them well in the first half. You could obviously tell that they could play football, but they were really physical for their age, as you never quite expect that of a team so young, especially when that team is Brazilian.
“We listened to what the manager wanted, and carried that out well, but in the second half it just began to fade a little bit, and we were no longer one hundred per cent following those instructions. That’s the difference between winning and losing; if you listen to what the manager says and follow it through, you should come out on top.”
The invaluable game-time for Reid at SJP follows an appearance off the bench in the weekend friendly with AFC Bournemouth, and the recently-turned 21-year-old noted that he is enjoying his best summer in some time.
“This has been my first good pre-season for a couple of years,” he said. “It’s not been nice, but I just want to put that behind me now, to look forward and to try and have an injury-free season. With a good pre-season behind me, I hope I’ll be alright.
“If you don’t have a good pre-season, you’re always playing catch-up. You won’t just walk straight into the team without that pre-season, so this time is among the most important across the year. It’s going well for me so far this year, and I’m loving every minute of it. I just want to play as many games as I can and prove to the manager that I can still play as well as I did before.”