John Wilkinson: “We’re as ready as we will ever be.”

By Gerald Koh/Red Sports. Photos by Lai Jun Wei and Vanessa Lim/Red Sports

Jalan Besar Stadium, Saturday, March 14, 2009 – At the press conference after the game against the Young Lions, Singapore Armed Forces FC goal-scoring midfielder John Wilkinson looked tired. So did his teammates on the field that evening.

“It’s not just physically tiring but also mentally tiring,” said Wilkinson of the travel to Shanghai for their AFC Champions League (ACL) match against Shanghai Shenhua last Wednesday and then travelling back for their next S.League match three days later.

“It’s (also) difficult to go from playing on one level to playing on another completely different level altogether,” he said.

And you can tell that he meant that.

From playing against top Asian league champions from Japan and South Korea one evening to playing back home in the S.League against notably weaker opposition, Wilkinson notes that the energy levels in both competitions are completely different, and the travelling doesn’t make it any easier.

“I think the team’s fitness is great. It’s the fatigueness (sic) that we are worried about.”

“I think the team’s fitness this year is better than previous years,” says the naturalized Singaporean, who has scored in four straight matches, including the equaliser in the eventual 4-1 defeat by Shanghai Shenhua in their maiden ACL game.

The defending S.League champions’ next ACL match will be against two-time AFC Champions League winners Suwon Bluewings on Singapore soil at Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday, March 18, 2009.

When asked about how prepared the Warriors are for the match against the Korean team, his answer was straightforward:

“We’re as ready as we will ever be. We’ve watched videos of Suwon playing. They are really good. They move the ball around very fast. Typical Korean play.”

But at the end of all that, his facial expression was thoughtful as he maintained, “Yeah, we’re as ready as we will ever be.”