Svensson impressed with success

Last updated : 29 July 2002 By Christian Kelly
Had he been involved in most of our previous pre season tours, he would be quietly hitting his head off a wall and plotting revenge against namesake Anders for building his hopes up. As it is, Michael has been impressed and is looking forward to his first season at St. Mary's. Michael said: "I have been very impressed by what I have seen. They have a lot of good players here and I thought they did very well on Wednesday.

"That was the first time I have seen them play and it was a good display especially for a first friendly as it is hard to get going after the summer.

"Your legs still feel like lead so to score five goals was good especially as the grass was so long. I liked the look of the team and the way they try to play football. They don't just kick the ball away but passed it well.

"I would like to have played - I always want to play. But unfortunately it is necessary to build up fitness first.

"That means a lot of running. No-one likes it but it has to be done and I have a lot of pain in my legs at the moment!

"The rest of the team did their running in Scotland last week but the three of us have to catch up now. Pre-season in England is shorter and more intense than Sweden.

"There the season starts in April and we begin work in January but perhaps there are only two or three hard sessions a week.

"But I am very encouraged by what I have seen so far and now I am just looking forward to playing - hopefully on Monday."

While Paul Williams did a great job at the back for us last year, I'm really looking forward to the Lundekvam/Svensson pairing. It could make all the difference between success and mediocrity next season. Let's hope we can build form a really stingy defence.