Glyn Hodges is looking forward to gauging how far his new-look squad have come when we face our toughest test of pre-season, away to Championship opposition on Saturday (1pm).
“It’ll be a different test of our organisation,” said Glyn ahead of our fifth warm-up game at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium against Queens Park Rangers. “I’m going to work on our defending before the game, to just make sure we tie things down and the new lads understand how we go about defending.
“Sometimes you play these games and you see the score lines and you’re used to having it all your own way, certainly against QPR we won’t. We’re playing with confidence, so we’re still expecting to have a good performance.”
Having registered four wins, while scoring thirteen goals and only conceding once against non-league opposition, our unbeaten run will be put to the test in West London.
“It’s nice not to concede many, but the minutes for players and the quality of the opponents are increasing. We’re looking at playing Oxford on September 5 (Carabao Cup) and that’ll come around soon and we’re even looking to maybe fit in an EFL Trophy game.
“They’re coming thick and fast; the levels are going up and up and we’re looking forward to the challenges.”
Glyn personally is relishing the opportunity to return to Loftus Road, having not only played there, but also having served as Head of Coaching for the Rs.
“I always liked playing there,” said Glyn. “It’s a great, old stadium. A lot of these new stadiums seem to be built outside of town and there’s not much soul in them, but I remember playing on the plastic pitch there. I’ve got good memories and it’ll be nice to take the team there and put on a good show again.”
Glyn yet again praised his medical staff, as Wimbledon bid to emerge from pre-season relatively unscathed to start the new campaign.
“The plan was to come back and have a nine-week pre-season,” said Glyn. “It’s normally five-and-a-half weeks, but now we’re doing a seven-and-a-half weeks pre-season.
“After the four months off - when the boys didn’t kick a ball and when they were going on bikes and running - nothing can quite replicate playing with a football.
“We’re making sure we get through unscathed and credit to the physios and the sports science department. Not only have we got to get through pre-seaosn unscathed, we’ve got to keep people fit the whole season because there are some big tests ahead.”
You can see the full pre-match interview with Glyn, ahead of the behind closed doors game at QPR, via the link below to our official YouTube channel.