Reserves lose to Arsenal & Villa - Mystery trialist.

Due to the Carling Cup match this game was rearranged from Tuesday to Thursday and I was unable to attend. We lost 2-1 to an impressive Arsenal side. There's a decent report on the Offal here which shows that new signings Adrian Leijer and Nathan Ashton both played alongside more established reserve players such as Adam Watts and Wayne Brown. Interesting to see Michael Timlin get a run out as well and the introduction of "A Trialist" on the hour mark. I assumed that was Daniel Ljuboja.

There's also a decent report on the Arsenal site here with some nice pictures at the bottom. They suggest the trialist was Andre Martins of which Wikipedia has this to say "a Portuguese footballer (born 26th March 1987), he is 1.80m tall and plays as a second striker/playmaker. At the youth level, Martins played 208 games and scored 266 goals. He was spotted by Bayern Munich and called for a trial in April 2007 but contractual difficulties - now resolved - stopped any possible transfer. Martins is now a free agent and will be in the UK during the summer transfer window where several clubs have expressed an interest in his talents. In July 2007 he scored the only goal of the game in a trial match for Dundee and is currently training with Doncaster Rovers".

The reserves played their second match at Aston Villa last night and were thumped 4-1. A report from the Villa site here and from the Offal here. The Villa side did feature Marlon Harewood but was otherwise young pros much like our own side. Our goal came on 66 minutes, Wayne Brown involved again, as his powerful shot was partially saved only for Adam Watts to scramble home the rebound.