Skipper happy to be back in the middle (From Swindon Advertiser)

Skipper happy to be back in the middle

6:00am Wednesday 6th March 2013 in Sport By Andy Warren

Alan McCormack

CAPTAIN Alan McCormack admitted he is happy to be back in his natural central midfield position, but remains willing to play anywhere to make it into new manager Kevin MacDonald’s side.

Former boss Paolo Di Canio told the Irishman he would not feature again in the middle of the park after converting him into a central defender during his early days at Swindon, but McCormack reverted back to his former position in MacDonald’s first game in charge as Town dramatically won away at Coventry.

The Town skipper impressed alongside Tommy Miller, and although MacDonald has yet to spell out where he sees his captain playing long-term, he admitted he was pleased to be back in a familiar position.

“We haven’t had a chat yet or anything like that, although obviously we talked about what he wanted me to do on Saturday, but there have been no one-on-ones yet,” he said.

“If I have to play right back, left back, centre half, centre mid I don’t really mind, I will try and give everything I’ve got when I’m on the pitch.

“In midfield you are constantly turning and facing the play and involved in attack and defence, and it’s a position that when you do well in it it’s very rewarding because you are passing, tackling heading and making goals.

“It was nice to be back in there, and if the manager asks me to play there again that’s up to him and I can only show him what I can do on the training pitch.

“It’s hard for the manager because he has come in to 20 or 25 players and he has to find out their best position, whether that’s right-footers playing in the left, left-footers on the right or centre halves playing at centre mid or the opposite. Even Wes, maybe he is a different position really.

“But that’s up to the manager, so let’s see what he comes up with.”

McCormack admitted there has been a slight change of routine under MacDonald, with the usual hard running Monday sessions replaced by skill-based work.

“It’s a lot different because on Mondays we are used to doing a lot of running and tactical shape, but we came in and did a light warm-up, a keep-ball session and some fun and games to get everyone smiling again after a day off before training begins again,” he said.

“It was still hard work, and there was a lot of keeping the ball and passing the ball and that was something we need that little extra 10 per cent of sharpness.

“We are very fit, and we have a lot to thank the old manager and the old staff for for that, but it’s just a matter of building up the sharpness for the rest of the run-in.”