April 14, 2022...PREVIEW: NASH KEEN TO BUILD ON POSITIVES FROM OPENING GAME AHEAD
OF EDMONTON CLASH
(from York United FC website)

  
PREVIEW: NASH KEEN TO BUILD ON POSITIVES FROM OPENING GAME AHEAD OF EDMONTON CLASH       

The Nine Stripes were left frustrated after a 1-0 opening day loss to HFX Wanderers last week.

It's Good Friday and York United make their first trip of the 2022 Canadian Premier League 
- a visit to Clarke Stadium and a meeting with FC Edmonton. 

It's an opportunity for The Nine Stripes to prove last week's chastening 1-0 home defeat to HFX Wanderers 
was only a blip. Still, results from the opening round of matches gives an inkling that no team will 
have cakewalks after some quality football was produced. 

Head Coach Martin Nash expects his players to put lessons to good use against a plucky opponent, 
who secured a 1-1 draw with Valour FC in their opening game last weekend courtesy of a sensational 
strike from Tobias Warschewski.  

Nash will make changes to the starting lineup and all but confirmed in Thursday's pre-match conference 
that both Diyaeddine Abzi and Max Ferrari are fit to start. 

Isaiah Johnston injected plenty of energy after coming on as a second-half substitute against 
HFX Wanderers and will be in the mix again for a midfield berth.

Striker Lowell Wright is on international duty with Canada's U-20 MNT and will miss this assignment. 
And with Martin Graiciar dealing with a concussion suffered in pre-season and Argentine Lisandro Cabrera 
still not in the country (it's hoped he will arrive next week), it will be interesting to see Nash's 
preferred attack for this.

New signing Osaze De Rosario could make his full debut after a 15-minute contribution last week while 
Oliver Minatel, who worked with Nash at Calvary FC, is another option.

Wright is also unavailable for the home clash with the Cavs on 22nd April, so tonight's fixture offers 
up a solid chance to other attackers to stake a claim.

"He's a confident kid," Nash said of the 18-year-old powerhouse.

"He's a great personality - not shy of putting himself out there. He's got a lot of great qualities 
and I think he's gonna be big for the team this year. He's got a lot of upside and we'll miss him for 
the next two games because we missed him for a large part of pre-season too. But, I look forward to seeing 
how he grows through the season."

The Gaffer expects his players to take this evening's clash with Edmonton by the scruff of the neck. 

"I think we've got to put them under pressure as much as we can," said Nash.

"This week we've been working on breaking the low blocks down because they [Edmonton against Valour] 
didn't really seem to come out and press too much. They're a difficult team to break down."

There is a feeling that last week's opening loss didn't tell the whole story.

Skipper Roger Thompson felt the side did more than enough to secure least a point, if not all three.

"I think we had a much better second half," he said.

"In the first half, we were trying to get settled a bit and I think they were maybe the better team. 
They didn't really create much but they had more of the ball. Whereas second half, I think we created 
more chances. Right after they went one-nil up, we were all over them for the next 15/20 minutes."

OPPONENT WATCH: 

Felix N’sa, Azriel Gonzalez, Tobias Warschewski, and Julian Ulbricht - all currently on loan 
at FC Edmonton from York United - are eligible to play against their parent club. 

Tboy Fayia is explosive on the flanks and in the middle of the park Gabriel Bitar and Shamit Schome 
are combative. 

Despite losing lead striker Easton Ongaro at the end of last season, the Eddies are still a threat 
with Kairo Coore and Masta Kacher around. 

And some harsh weather conditions could play to the advantage of the home side. 

Ridwan Ibrahim Asante

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