You Can't Beat Match Practice - Pack

Tuesday, July 21st 2015

Marlon Pack believes there is no substitution for match practice as City take on SC Braga tonight (7pm).

The 24-year-old has played in every match so far this pre-season and is set to retain his position in midfield against the Europa League qualifiers.

Into the second week of the Portugal tour, the players continue to work hard on the training ground but Pack feels game time is the most important form of preparation.

“You can’t beat match practice,” he told Bristol City Player HD.

“That’s where you get your proper sharpness from and where you can relate to where you are right now in pre-season.

“We’ve probably done the hard graft now and the base is definitely there, but we need to get our sharpness going and there’s no better way than against Braga.”

SC Braga ply their trade in Primeira Liga – Portugal’s top division – and will play Europa League football after finishing 4th last season.

The Archbishops, as they are known, are City’s high profile opposition building up to the 2015/16 Sky Bet Championship campaign, and it is one the whole squad have been relishing.

“It’s what we’ve all be looking forward to,” Pack said.

“We know we’re up against a tough test. They’ve been in the Champions League and they’re regulars in the Europa League.

“We’re stepping up a league ourselves so it’ll be good to see where we’re at.

He added: “We know they’re going to be a good footballing side and they’ll make it hard for us to break them down.

“We’ll going to have to make sure our shape is good and when it’s the right time to go and get them we’ll have to do that.”

City are halfway through their pre-season program and are just under three weeks away from the opening game of the season against Sheffield Wednesday.

The squad abided to an off-season fitness program, and have put in the hard yards since coming back on July 1st, but Pack feels there is still room for improvement ahead of the match at Hillsborough.

“Fitness wise our base is there,” he said.

“None of us are where we want to be come the first game of the season but once that first game is here, I’m sure we will be.

“There’s no better way to test ourselves than tonight with the same lads that played last year, so it’ll be good to see how we fare.”