James Perch: "European football is different to the game in League One, anything goes.
“The thing I found the hardest was the referee, and the contact.
”I’m used to the English game and League One, where anything goes!
“All of a sudden, you’re playing in Europe, and you’ve got to be careful with the contact you put on people. It’s frustrating at times, but it’ll come.
“It’s a learning curve. There are people in the dressing room who have done it like Harps (Steve Harper) and Steven Taylor, and Cabs (Yohan Cabaye) has played international football.
“There are quite a lot of us who haven’t played in Europe, and it was good to play Atromitos, and get used to the difference in refereeing standards.
“It’s a tough month – we’ve got seven games in 21 days.
“We knew that was going to happen when we got through against Atromitos. We know it’s a tough season ahead.
“But we’ve got players who can step in when needed, or when players are tired and need a rest.
“That’s what the squad’s for, and playing in Europe is something we’re going to enjoy.
“If we weren’t playing in Europe, and playing these games, we wouldn’t have been doing well. We can’t complain.
“In terms of travel, the draw’s probably the best we could have hoped for – the furthest is Maritimo.
“All in all, it’s good. We’ve got tough teams, but not too much travel, so it’s not too hard on the body.
“You don’t want to be travelling six or seven hours.
“You don’t think about Europe too much at the start of your career – you want to play for England.
“But when it comes around, like it did last season, you really want it – I just wanted us to get through against Atromitos, and play in Europe.
“We want to take every game as it comes. We want to get through the group stage now and progress. It’s exciting times ahead.”
Source: FOOTYMAD
