Ange previews Shakhtar Donetsk: “It’s exciting, we’re up for it”
Fri 04 August 2023, 16:45|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ange Postecoglou steps out as Head Coach at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time as we host Shakhtar Donetsk in our penultimate pre-season match of the summer on Sunday (2pm).
It's a match dedicated to the people of Ukraine - the Club is raising funds for Shakhtar’s charitable foundation, Shakhtar Social, in support of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine as a result of the armed conflict with Russia.
“I’m looking forward to it - to the stadium, to playing in front of our supporters, and I feel the boys are, as well,” Ange told SPURSPLAY after training on Friday. “It’s exciting. You’ll realise on Sunday just how close the start of the Premier League actually is and, because of that, I’m sure the boys will be up for it.”
The Ukraine champions are the first of a quickfire double-header of pre-season matches with a trip to La Liga champions Barcelona to follow on Tuesday (7pm UK) - both games available to watch on SPURSPLAY - before we get down to Premier League business with our opener at Brentford on Sunday week (13 August, 2pm).
Ange knows better than most about the quality Shakhtar Donetsk will bring to the table - he faced them twice in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League last season, both ending in 1-1 draws.
“Shakhtar are always good side, always have good, young talent,” he said. “They are developers of talent. When we played them in the Champions League last season, they gave us a couple of really difficult games. Mykhailo Mudryk, who ended up at Chelsea, was outstanding.
“They always produce very, very good young players and it will be a test for us at our stadium before the season starts. Having two games close together means we can give the majority of the squad a run out, a final topping up in terms of match conditioning before the season starts.
“We’ll use both games to try to get as many minutes into the players as possible. Barcelona away, that’s as tough a test as you could come across, but, for us, it’s really good preparation.”
