More Work To Be Done For Little

Tuesday, July 28th 2015

Defender delighted to return but insists he is "nowhere near" full fitness.

Mark Little was delighted to come through his first pre-season outing unscathed but has warned he is still a long way from full match fitness.

The right wing-back crowned his comeback from injury with the opening goal in City’s 3-0 win over Almancilense in Ferreiras last night.

It was Little’s first appearance since the beginning of April, having dislocated his shoulder at Oldham Athletic on Good Friday.

“It was a good runout and exactly what I needed,” he told Bristol City Player HD.

“I can do loads of training but I need minutes in competitive games to see where I am and today I enjoyed that.

“I can try my hardest but it’s nowhere near one hundred percent. You could see that there were certain things in the game where I was a little bit off the pace but that is to be expected.

“We’re happy with where I am now but I’ve still got some rust to get off me. There’s still a bit more fitness and a bit more power to come so I’ve got a couple more weeks to find that now.”

Little was in the right place at the right time to convert Luke Freeman’s square pass to give City a 21st minute lead, as Steve Cotterill’s men rounded off their two-week stay in Portugal with a comfortable victory.

“The gaffer says constantly ‘get in at the back stick’. That’s what I did today and luckily it came for a tap in – or a six-yard screamer!” he joked.

“For me personally, I’m happy, but as a team we’ve got to step up. When I sat and watched the boys against Braga they were different class, but today we dropped off a little bit.

“It (the trip) has been a lot different for me. When the boys are relaxing I’ve been doing extra stuff, but today has showed it’s paying off.

“I’m not there yet, so we’re not going to get too carried away, but I’ve enjoyed the two weeks because I’ve got out of it what I needed to.”