Connah’s Quay Nomads manager Andy Morrison will need no introduction to the Llandudno’s defensive duo of Michael Pearson and Kai Edwards when they meet in Saturday’s live Sgorio fixture.
Pearson and Edwards were both part of the Nomads’ Welsh Cup-winning squad last season, and played a significant role in Connah’s Quay’s defence, which once again finished the campaign with the least goals conceded.
However, the Nomads’ formidable defensive line was broken up in the summer, as Pearson and Edwards made the move to join Iwan Williams’ Llandudno.
Andy Morrison made no secret of his disappointment at the move, telling the club’s official website:
“Kai and Peo were a pleasure to work with and I can’t speak highly enough of them both. We offered them both good contracts but ultimately were unable to match the contracts on offer from Llandudno.
“If, in two years time, they have played in four Cup Semi Finals, won the Welsh Cup, enjoyed back-to-back European campaigns and rewritten the history books at Llandudno then it will have been a good football decision along with a very good financial decision.”
Pearson and Edwards have unsurprisingly earned starting places in Iwan Williams’ line up, making an immediate impact with Llandudno conceding just three goals so far this season.
Nomads have conceded two more goals than their opponents, but will be eager to even the odds with a win on the road this weekend.
Llandudno boast a good recent record over Connah’s Quay, beating them 1-0 at the Giant Hospitality stadium and coming away from Deeside with a point from a 1-1 draw.
But both of those points came with Llandudno under former manager Alan Morgan, with Iwan Williams going against Nomads as manager of the Seasiders for the first time on Saturday.
The game kicks off at 19:30 on Saturday evening, broadcast live on S4C and Sgorio’s Facebook Live stream, and a battle is to be expected, as Morrison told his side’s website.
“I said at the start of the season that after their massive financial outlay, any team that finish above Llandudno will be in a European football position – I have no idea what their budgets are, nor do I wish to know, but I do know it is healthy for the league that teams like Llandudno now have the financial ability to offer deals to players that we as a club refused to match.
“With that outlay comes expectations and after tasting European football and being in a very healthy position when their previous manager left, I’m sure that Llandudno will be one of the four clubs playing in Europe come the end of the season.”
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