Nico Yennaris felt that Wednesday’s 1-0 win over VFL Bochum was a really good workout for the boys as preparations for the new season continued in Germany. After a tough five days of training at the WM Sporthotel complex, a first-half Scott Hogan goal proved decisive as The Bees got the better of their 2.Bundesliga opponents. Nico conceded the performance could have been better but said that, at this stage, it is all about getting the minutes on the pitch with the win and clean sheet being added bonuses.
“We have had a tough five days coming into this game so a lot of the boys are fatigued,” said Nico, speaking to Bees Player after the match. “It was good to keep a clean sheet and get the win. It was important to get the minutes into the legs and we held onto the win. It wasn’t the best performance but that is what pre-season is for. We need to get the rustiness out of our legs and get the sharpness back. You can train as much as you like but match sharpness is only going to come by playing real minutes. We go into every game trying to win it and we always have to go in and stand up for ourselves and each other on the pitch. They played some good football. They probably didn’t have five solid days of training building up to the game so they were a lot fresher but it was still good to get the win.”
The Bees have been doing tough double sessions in Germany on their Training Camp with the new season now just over three weeks away. Nico admitted that it has been a physically hard week for him and the rest of the players but thinks it will all be worth it when the season gets underway with a trip to Huddersfield Town on 6 August.
“The pre-season this year has been a lot tougher than last year so I think we are going to be better physically than last year,” said Nico. “I don’t think we were as fit or as sharp as we should have been last year but this pre-season has been a lot tougher and the boys are feeling good. We take a lot of confidence from how we finished last season and we are going into the new season in good spirits.”