KANE FERDINAND believes that Woking’s fantastic start to the National League has been down to the hard work installed by Anthony Limbrick and Jason Goodcliffe on the training pitch.
The Cards are currently third in the table and just a point off the league leaders Macclesfield Town following a 1-0 win at home to Dagenham and Redbridge.
Woking are currently on a six-game unbeaten run, and Ferdinand reckons that his side’s ability to play at a high tempo for the entirety of a game has been a key factor this season.
He told Woking FC TV: “The fitness has been big, we feel as if we’re stronger than a lot of teams in the latter stages of the game. Everyone at the club has got to take credit, we’re all doing our bit and all loving it.”
Anthony Limbrick has revitalised the club since his appointment in the summer, with the former Southampton and West Ham coach implementing a full-time training schedule upon his arrival.
Woking now train three times a week, with the option of double sessions on Tuesday and Thursdays, which has seen the Tuesday session labelled ‘Terror Tuesday’.
Terror Tuesday – Photo by David Holmes, a full set can be viewed at www.wokingfc.co.uk
The coaching staff have targeted this to improve the players fitness levels, yet Ferdinand enjoys the challenge of the sessions and his side’s start has proved that the training is paying off for his side.
He added: “Terror Tuesday is hard work, but the boys are in good spirits and enjoying themselves even though they’re working hard which is good – you don’t see it as Terror Tuesday if you’re enjoying yourself and playing football.”
“We’re working hard on the training ground, most teams when they’ve been successful tend to do less work on the training ground but we’ve done the opposite.”
“We’ve worked harder and put more hours into improving even more and the results don’t lie. Even though we’re winning, we’re still putting the effort in.”
Although the Woking manager has focused on his side’s fitness recently, the Australian is still keen to implement his ideas to his side, and explained what his methods are, which has been seen throughout the games this season.
TEAM HUDDLE – Photo by David Holmes, a full set can be viewed at www.wokingfc.co.uk
He told Woking FC TV: “We do a lot of work in training on passing, I think you can tell from the games you watch that it’s part of our philosophy.
“We want to keep possession but we want to have effective possession as well, we’ve scored a few goals from crosses and we want to get the ball into wide areas and penetrate the box. We don’t want to play good football we want to play effective football too.”
One player that has benefitted from more full-time training is former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Jason Banton, but after several long-term injuries, the club are managing his rehabilitation well.
Banton picked up a hamstring injury in training two weeks ago, but has made an impact, making eight appearances, scoring twice and claiming another two assists. After falling back in love with the game, Banton has put in down to Limbrick, who has revolutionised the club.
He told the Woking FC Club Programme: “The fitness all comes down from the manager who is positive and works with an intensity in training that really is better than a lot of Football League clubs. The training and conditioning is good and very professional.”