Pullen pleased with Cup draw

JULIUS ROSS | February 09, 2011 12.01am

THE opening round of the Summer Cup this Saturday will give competing clubs an important indication of their pre-season progress, but none more so than promoted Premier League outfit Beachside.

Beachside, which gained promotion to the top flight after an undefeated Division One season in 2010, will draw attention as Premier League newcomers and have already been labelled relegation favourites for the forthcoming winter season in some quarters.

Drawn in Group A of the Cup against Premier League heavyweight Hobart Zebras and Division One sides University and Taroona, Beachside player-coach Brett Pullen believes the draw is favourable, but the focus will be on finalising his team.

"Our aim for the Summer Cup is to consolidate our top 15-16 players leading into the winter season," Pullen said.

"We've certainly come a long way in pre-season; we've made some strong signings and we've got some good overall depth.

"But we have to be pretty single-minded and while good results in the Cup would be nice and it will build momentum, it's about us focussing on survival in the Premier League."

"Everyone is stating that we are relegation potentials because we're newly promoted, so our whole job is about establishing the club and cementing our place."

Pullen, a former Zebras midfield stalwart, has picked up some valuable players in the transfer market recently adding another in former Taroona midfielder Matthew Hedge this week whom he intends to combine with more established players to form a mix of youth and experience.

Despite the fact Pullen is diverting focus away from results during Summer Cup, he is confident his side will fare well in Group A.

"We'll hopefully be able to beat the Division One sides and we'll obviously want to see where we're at against Zebras."
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2011/02/09/205791_soccer.html