Scunthorpe United manager Graham Alexander says he's delighted with the opposition the Iron will face during their short pre-season trip to Austria.
United play the first of their two friendlies against Union UNIS Gschwandt on Tuesday (5.30pm kick-off UK time), before rounding off with an encounter against FC Liefering on the subsequent Friday (5.30pm kick-off UK time).Alexander told The Iron PlayerHD: “It’s sometimes difficult when you go abroad, because in England you get certain options of who you’re going to play, and you know the level.
“When you go abroad you can often play teams where you don’t know their level. I know where we want to be pitching our team against at the moment in the process of building up to the start of the season.
“We had to find the right opponent - we think we have, so we’re looking forward to it."
The Iron boss stated he’s looking forward to travelling to Austria - a country which he’s visited previously in his career.
He emphasised the two matches will be part of a rigorous training regime, and they won’t be approached in the same manner as a competitive fixture would.
“I’ve been there before, both as a player and a manager and it’s always been really good work. The games have always been good workouts - stepping up in quality as we go along,” he said.
“So it’ll give the players another chance to play a match but, likewise with the Stamford game, they will be training on the day, they will be training the following day and it will be part of the training programme.
“So it’s not like a league programme where you’re preparing physically. They’ll be going into these games slightly fatigued.
“That happens in games when you go through the season, and you still have to make right decisions and still push through that pain barrier to win games. So that’s what I’ll be looking for."
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