Midfielder talks to the press ahead of MK Dons clash.
Shrewsbury Town welcome MK Dons to the Greenhous Meadow on Saturday as the 2016/17 season gets underway.Town have made a number of new signings as they try to improve on last season’s 20th placed finish.
Scottish winger Jim O’Brien is one of the new additions and he is looking forward to getting started.
“Everyone’s looking forward to it,” said Jim.
“We’ve had a good preseason, we’re looking forward to the real stuff coming now and they do come thing and fast, but we’re looking forward to it.”
“I just want to get back enjoying my football, playing with a smile on my face and it’s a good place come and work here, so hard work and a bit of a smile and a laugh and a joke is always nice.”
“It will be the first time I’ve seen it packed out. Obviously with the preseason games, you don’t know how many people are going to turn up and stuff like that, but there was a good turnout at the open day and it was nice to get involved and talk to people and everyone’s really friendly. So I’m really looking forward to it,” O’Brien added.
MK Dons were relegated from The Championship last season, but O’Brien expects them to be a one of the better sides this time around.
“They’re a good side, always had a good side. They’ve always had good players, players that have been good on the ball, a fit side as well, they always caused us problems,” O’Brien said.
“What they achieved getting up in the first place and last year if they had stayed up last season they may have been okay this season, but they will be dangerous.
“They’ve got good players, we know all about that now. The lads here, behind the scenes, have been doing a lot of work on them and we’re expecting a tough game.”
A bumper crowd is expected at the Greenhous Meadow on Saturday and O’Brien thinks it will be a hard game to predict.
“The first game there’s always unknowns,” Jim admitted.
“It’s a difficult start in terms of teams on paper, but we thought that last season at Coventry, we had two of the teams that got relegated from The Championship in the first two games of the season and we won them both, so it’s a little bit of the unknown.”
“Everyone’s in the same boat in terms of people still trying to find their feet and everyone’s at different levels of fitness, so until you get that little bit of a run going and that momentum, it’s hard to call.”