Alan Stubbs has revealed that the players were taken to La Cala for a training camp ahead of the Scottish League Cup Final presented by Utilita, because of potential issues with the pitches at the Hibernian Training Centre.
The recent weather has seen the pitches at East Mains become soft and heavy, and Stubbs believed that the correct decision was to ensure that the players were ready and prepared for the final on Sunday with no interruptions due to issues with training pitches.
He also explained that the staff will be getting the players’ body clocks right by training at the same time as the game and eating the correct foods at the appropriate times.
Speaking to Hibs TV he said: “I think the most important thing is that we wanted to have no problems this week in terms of the weather, the training pitches, which, unfortunately because of the weather over the last few months, every one has had a knock-on effect with their pitches and training facilities.
“Recently we have found it difficult with our training pitches to get on them, because they have been really heavy. Going into Sunday’s game I didn’t want any interruptions in terms of turning up and wondering whether we would get onto the training pitches or not in such an important week.
“We decided to come away because first of all we can control what the players are eating. We can get the right food into them at the right time each day.
“We are training each day at the same time as the game so their body clocks are right for that.
“We have a really good pitch that we are training on. We can take our time on set pieces and practices we are going to put on and not having to worry about the weather with the rain or snow or wind.
“Basically we didn’t want any interruptions whatsoever.
“I’ve been to this area before with Everton and the facilities here are very good. We are getting well looked after.
“It’s good to have all the players together with a little bit of team bonding.
“We are really looking forward to the final. It’s going to be a great day for everybody but we are under n illusions about how difficult it’s going to be. I think both teams will fancy their chances of getting a result on the day.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
