Ben Clark looks ahead to Cymru Premier campaign with TNS and opens up on European disappointment

The New Saints begin their Cymru Premier campaign tonight, as they face Connah’s Quay Nomads at Park Hall.

The Cymru Premier champions played their first game last week since their European exit which was also against the Nomads in the Nathaniel MG Cup second round.

They had to come from a goal behind to win the game, after Callum Bratley gave Connah’s Quay an early advantage inside 15 minutes of the game.

However, first-half goals from Jordan Williams and Josh Daniels ensured the Saints progressed to the next round.

TNS midfielder Ben Clark played in that game and spoke about what he is expecting ahead of tonight’s matchup.

“We’re obviously excited to get the league campaign started with the disappointment in Europe,” he began.

“We need to get back on track and start winning games again and start the title defence.

“We know it’s going to be a tough game. They’re going to try and come to our place and get a result.

“We’re ready for the game. We need to start the campaign well and start with three points.

“It will be a complete different game. Last week we made quite a few changes from Europe. We’ll probably go back to a little bit of a stronger squad tonight.

“They might make a few changes and a few tactical changes but so will we and we’ll attack the game like any other game.

Connah’s Quay came runners-up in last season’s Cymru Premier campaign and are likely to push for the title again this campaign.

Clark spoke about facing the Nomads first, as well as the quality of the Cymru Premier this season.

“It’s not ideal to play 2nd from last season in the first game because you want to go in and get a points advantage before playing them.

“We’ve got to play them twice or four times no matter what anyway.

“I think every single team this year is going to be a tough game. 

“In the past we’ve always had a few teams who may not have been as strong as others, whereas this year I think the teams who have come up have definitely strengthened the league.“

The New Saints had their European adventure ended after a 4-3 aggregate loss to Swift Hesperange in the UEFA Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

It came after their UEFA Champions League first qualifying round defeat to Swedish side BK Häcken.

Clark expressed his disappointment at their European campaign, and hopes to get further next time around.

“Obviously disappointment. I think we had a really good chance this year to go a little bit further, especially losing against Swift last week.

“We got given a tough (UCL) draw, probably the toughest draw we could’ve got in the first round (BK Häcken) and they were a very good team and they probably will get into a group stage this year so we can’t be too disheartened about that.

“We’ve just got to kick on and prepare for next year and hopefully win the league and give ourselves the best opportunity to get to a group stage in the near future.

“They had a lot of international players. When you’re coming against players like them you know you’ve got to try 100% harder.

“You can see the way they play, they are obviously at a higher level than what we’re playing at.

“We’ve got to try to adapt to playing against players like that. In our league a lot of teams probably see us as the Häcken because we have a bigger budget, we have a bigger squad. It’s almost like you’ve got to take their role, you’ve got to be ready to go up against everyone you play against.

With TNS’ domestic season having not come to a close until after their Welsh Cup victory over Bala Town at the end of April, there was minimal time to rest for the Saints ahead of their European games and preparation for it.

Clark spoke about what that is like for a player and what could be done to help Welsh teams in Europe.

“We only get four weeks off. It’s a quick turnaround. Preseason is always hard, we always play against teams who are going to be playing in Europe as well. 

“It’s hard. I feel like maybe if we were in season, we would potentially do better, but there’s always that risk of injury as well.

“It would benefit the Welsh League. I think it would give us a better chance to progress in Europe. But obviously in the summer it can be a lot harder to play the games because it can be quite hot and you’ve got to adapt to different environments.

“I feel like in the future it would be nice to be on a level playing field with some of the teams that are already in season.“

(Pic By John Smith/FAW)