Bani Yas' new signing Mark Milligan impressed by solid start

Matt Jones - Editor 08:16 15/09/2015
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  • Settling in well: Mark Milligan (r).

    Mark Milligan has only been at Bani Yas a matter of weeks, but already he likes what he sees in front of him.

    The Australia international has been impressive so far in his three outings for his new club, anchoring the Sky Blues’ midfield in back-to-back Arabian Gulf League wins against Al Shaab and Dibba Al Fujairah.

    They were unlucky in a narrow 1-0 Arabian Gulf Cup loss to Al Nasr but the former Melbourne Victory star admits he’s been impressed with his side’s start to the season, singling out local stars Bandar Al Ahbabi and Haboush Saleh for special praise.

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    “They’re both very different players but both extremely talented,” the 42-times capped Socceroos star said of the UAE duo.

    “Bandar’s pace down the right and willingness to get forward and put balls into the box is second to none. 

    “Haboush is a very skillful guy and I try to get the ball to his feet as much as possible because I enjoy watching him play as well. 

    “The final product of the two has been pretty good. Those front four (in addition to Ishak Belfodil and Joaquin Larrivey) have been combining quite nicely, I think Joaquin got a deserved goal (in the 3-0 win against Dibba).”

    The midfield general hasn’t been in the UAE long but admits he’s settling into life in Abu Dhabi life well.

    “I’m slowly getting used to it,” said the man who played 90 minutes in Saturday’s 3-0 victory 
    despite scoring a goal and playing the full 90 as Australia beat Tajikistan by the same scoreline in Dushanbe in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers four days earlier. 

    “It was probably a bit of a test with the earlier kick off but I wasn’t feeling too bad. The last 10 minutes I just put my head down and battled through. 

    “It’s a different league and different style to what I’m used to. The more time I spend on the pitch the more comfortable I’m becoming.

    “The first two games we’ve got six points, so we can’t do much better. We can’t do much more than beat what’s put in front of us. It’s very important we started the season well and we’ve done that.”

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