Tony Adams pleased with St Albans run out

FC GABALA boss Tony Adams was delighted with the workout St Albans City gave his side at Clarence Park on Sunday.

The former Arsenal and England legend described the workout as “perfect for us” as the two teams battled it out in hot conditions at a sun-kissed Clarence Park.

It was Adams’ Azerbaijani visitors who won the game, thanks to two goals from Vurgun Huseynov and one from Murad Huseynov and the Gabala manager says it will prove excellent preparation for his side when they return to action in the Azerbaijani Unibank Premier League.

“I thought first half we were a little bit sloppy, we gave them a couple of goals really but it was still a good physical workout for us,” Adams told the Herts Advertiser afterwards.

“The tempo was a little bit less than the two games we’ve had so far but in general we got going second half and I thought we played a little bit better. Overall I’m pleased and this will be very good for us when we get back to Azerbaijan playing at this kind of tempo, it’s perfect for us.”

The game gave Adams a chance to catch up with his friend and current City chairman Ian Ridley, the man who wrote Adams’ book Addicted, and the ex-England captain gave the recently refurbished Clarence Park pitch the thumbs up.

“It’s lovely catching up with Ian before I go for another five or six months working,” explained Adams.

“The pitch was good, the ball was a bit of a pudding so I asked the referee to pump it up at half time but it was a good game and I enjoyed it.”

Adams guided Gabala to seventh in the league last season and believes with the addition of a couple more players he can have the provincial side challenging for the title. The 44-year-old said: “It’s going great. It’s coming together, these things don’t happen overnight but we’re getting there. A couple more new players this season and maybe a few more next season and we’ll be challenging for the title.

“It’s a much slower game (in Azerbaijan); it’s kind of technical; kind of Spanish second division or Italian second division standard.”