Reserve Reaction

Monday evening’s Reserve Team match against Chelsea saw new signings Eddie Johnson and Toni Kallio further improve their fitness levels with both players getting through 90 minutes.

Simon Elliott also saw a return to action following a lengthy spell on the sidelines with injury. The New Zealand international was replaced, as planned, just after the hour mark and his return to action particularly pleased Reserve Team Manager Billy McKinlay who was, nonetheless, mindful of rushing Elliott’s progress.

“It’s important that we don’t put too much pressure on him because he puts enough pressure on himself,” McKinlay said. “The period of time he’s been out for means that it’s going to take a number of games to get match fit and ready to go. It’s important that we take the pressure off him. He’s a good boy and is very harsh on himself so we’re really, really pleased with him.

“He’s had a lot of frustrating times and I don’t think I’ve seen anybody in my time in the game work as hard and as long as he’s worked over the past 18 months.”

The game itself saw the Whites take a two-goal lead with strikes from Michael Timlin and Seol Ki-Hyeon – however the home side were able to rescue a share of the points with a last minute equaliser.

“To be two goals up and to drop the two points is disappointing,” McKinlay said. “In general the performance was a bit erratic at times; we couldn’t get a real foothold in the game and we struggled to get any continuous momentum going. But the players worked ever so hard and at the end they knew that it was two points dropped. A victory would have given us four wins on the bounce.

“If you draw two-two and the game pans out different you might be able to accept it but conceding in the last minute like that leaves a feeling of disappointment.”