ADNAN AHMED reckons he is in better shape than at any time in his career at the start of the new season with Tranmere.
The Pakistan international says Rovers have not yet seen the best of his abilities as a midfielder after a first campaign at Prenton Park yielded just seven senior appearances.
The 24-year-old, signed from Huddersfield in the summer of 2007, hopes he can reap the benefits of a year’s work under Tranmere’s rigorous fitness regime and push his way into the first-team picture on a more regular basis. Ahmed said: “I feel a lot stronger mentally and physically now than I did a year ago and I’m hoping to build from that.
“I’ve had a good 12 months of solid training, whereas over the previous two seasons at Huddersfield I did not get that consistent work because of lay-off with injuries.
“So I’m hoping this is the year for me to really push on. I am confident in my ability to get into the side.”
However, Ahmed hasn’t been able to start that big push in the pre-season games this summer because a knee injury kept in on the sidelines for the last fortnight.
Ahmed said: “It was just a slight strain I’d picked up. Pre-season training is very intense here and it’s just a little niggle that should clear up quickly.
“This is very much the time of year when you want to be playing in the friendlies and showing the manager what you can do. It’s frustrating because I came back for pre-season training feeling very good. I felt I had a decent game against Liverpool in the first pre-season friendly and I feel I have done well in training.”
Ahmed added: “The training is probably the hardest I have ever done. You just get your head down and work.”
Burnley-born Ahmed joined Tranmere looking for a fresh start after playing around 50 first team games in four injury-blighted seasons with Huddersfield.
His hopes of making an early impact last season were frustrated as Paul McLaren and Steve Jennings quickly established a grip on the two central midfield positions. The pair were first choice to most of the campaign.
Ahmed said: “Last season I did not play as many games in the first team as I wanted. I think I was a bit unfortunate because Jenno and Macca got into the midfield positions and did really well there.
“Neither of them got injured, which was good for them and unfortunate for the players who were trying to get into the side.”
There were compensations for Ahmed however, not least an unexpected call into international football last autumn.
Although he was born in Lancashire, Ahmed qualified for Pakistan through his parents.
“The whole thing came out of the blue,” Ahmed said. “The Pakistan FA have a scouting network abroad and take notice of players who are good enough to play professionally in England.”
Ahmed made his debut in an Asian Cup game against the region’s best side, Iraq. Pakistan lost by seven goals but were better prepared for the return, which they drew.
“It was a case of getting a settled team and organising things,” said Ahmed, who played five internationals for Pakistan last season, scoring two goals. He added: “It was an adventure, seeing new places like Thailand and The Maldives that otherwise I would never have gone to. I’d only been to Pakistan once before as a small boy with my parents, so that was effectively new was well.
“Now all of the main tournaments have gone and there is nothing on the calendar with Pakistan for the next six months. So I can put my full focus on Tranmere. The priority is to get into the first-team and go from there.”
TRANMERE fear they could start the season without crowd-pleaser Chris Shuker.
The 26-year-old winger has missed several pre-season friendlies over the past three weeks because of a muscle problem behind the knee.
Manager Ronnie Moore is not optimistic Shuker can be ready in time for Rovers’ opening League game at Swindon Town on Saturday, August 9.
Moore said: “Chris is looking a yard off the pace. He is probably a week behind everyone else. So I imagine we will be starting the season without Shuker.”
