TONY PULIS had mixed feelings after seeing two of his new signings make impressive debuts for Stoke City before announcing the arrival of another newcomer.
Pulis was delighted with the performances of Michael Kightly and Geoff Cameron in the final pre-season game against Sp Vgg Greuther Furth and excited by the imminent signing of Goran Popov on a season-long loan from Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kiev.
But while City’s manager is pleased with the pre-season preparations and additions to the squad, he is frustrated with the disruption that will be caused to his plans for the Premier League opener at Reading by the round of international matches next week.
“The frustrating thing from my point of view is that we’ve got a number of players going off on international duty, including Cameron and Popov, so that robs us of precious time in the lead-up to the Reading match when we are trying to get them settled in,” he said.
“I thought that Kightly and Cameron did very well in their first matches and there were some very positive signs because we looked dangerous going forward at times.
“It was another tough test for us because they’ve got some good players, but the lads have worked extremely hard over the past four weeks to get ready for the challenge ahead.”