Harris: Hatters are ready to go

Town assistant boss Terry Harris believes his side’s gruelling pre-season schedule will stand them in good stead for Saturday’s Skrill Premier opener at Southport, writes Mike Simmonds.
The Hatters management teamThe Hatters management team
The Hatters management team

Harris moved to Kenilworth Road with boss John Still back in February and the pair have implemeted the same process that saw them win two promotions at former club Dagenham & Redbridge.

He said: “It’s the same pre-season that we’ve done now for the last nine years.

“We’ve refined it as the years have gone by, but the concept is still the same.

“You’ve still got to get the players fit, still got to get the players organised, and its gone really very well.

“The club were kind enough to allow us to go to Portugal, that was very good.

“It allowed all the players to get that bonding and sometimes those things are hard to get, so that helped in a big way.”

There have been changes to the backroom staff during pre-season with Alan Neilson and Dmitri Kharine moving on, while Hakan Hayrettin and Jeff Wood have come in.

Fitness and conditioning coach Dave Richardson has been brought in too as Harris continued: “It was nothing detrimental to Dimi or Alan, both are very good guys and very good coaches in their respective fields.

“But John just felt that he wanted his team around him.

“I know Hakan and John’s known him for a long while.

“He’s a very good coach and a successful manager as well.

“I know what impact Dave had when we were at Dagenham and I hope he can have the same impact here.

“We’ll agree to disagree on certain occasions, that’s healthy. You can’t all agree as nothing will ever get done properly.

“We’re pleased with preseason as far as the team ethic that we have now. It’s going to take time, although we’re going to get there.”

Town enjoyed a superb pre-season, winning eight out of 10 matches, beating the likes of Aston Villa, Dagenham and an Arsenal XI.

They also kept seven clean sheets too, but Harris wasn’t too interested in what had gone. He said: “I’m not worried about results pre-season.

“If we lost every pre-season game and win the first game of the season, that’s fine by me.

“The whole idea of pre-season is purely working on your base fitness.

“That’s what we always adhered to at Dagenham, you get your core work done and then you start sharpening up after that.”

The squad in place has impressed Harris though as he added: “It’s about sorting out combinations now.

“That’s what these games are for and the little games we do in training are to find out.

“We know that by August 10, we’ll be ready and hopefully we get the right result.”

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