Cavalry FC’s Tommy Wheeldon Jr. on training return, trialists & doing ‘whatever needs to be done’ for 2021 season
Excerpts of this story by Benedict Rhodes a CANPL.CA contributor, are courtesy of CANPL.ca from May 27, 2021 https://canpl.ca/article/cavalry-fcs-tommy-wheeldon-jr-on-training-return-trialists-doing-whatever-needs-to-be-done-for-2021-season.
With the 2021 Canadian Premier League season rapidly approaching, Cavalry FC have been back in training for about a month now.
CanPL.ca caught up with Cavalry FC gaffer Tommy Wheeldon Jr. to get updates on returning to training, international players, and preparing for the single-site environment to start the season, among other things.
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Cavalry returned to training in April after another long offseason following the Island Games.
“It’s really nice to be back on the pitch, I think we’ve all missed it,” Wheeldon Jr told CanPL.ca. “Especially in an era of ‘you can’t do this, you can’t do that’, being able to do something we love is phenomenal.”
“We’re fortunate that the Alberta provincial government has approved all of our recommendations so we can train.”
The Cavalry boss says that the players have come back hungry for success, especially two of their new recruits, who have transitioned well into the squad.
“[Anthony Novak] and Joe Di Chiara feel like they’ve always played for us, with the way that their personalities have come through” he said.
By picking up those two, from Forge FC and York United, respectively, Cavalry think they did some good business.
“Both of them are impact players in the league,” Wheeldon Jr. said of the pair. “You see what Joe Di Chiara did at the Island Games (three goals in six games), but before that he was a very influential midfielder — box-to-box, can connect the play, can break up the play. He’s one of the best midfielders in this league.
“And Anthony Novak, I think he was probably an unsung hero within the Forge ranks, and somebody who we always looked at when we were playing against, going ‘we know he is going to be a handful’,” he said, adding that he’s thankful they’ve decided to join the Cavs ahead of this season.
For the rest of the story by Benedict Rhodes, please go to the CANPL.ca website at: https://canpl.ca/article/cavalry-fcs-tommy-wheeldon-jr-on-training-return-trialists-doing-whatever-needs-to-be-done-for-2021-season
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