Manager Brian Barry-Murphy on securing the services of Matty Done on a two-year contract…
The forward put pen to paper on a new deal on Tuesday and BBM was quick to praise Doney’s hunger and ambition.
“Matty has been with us for a long period of time over a number of spells but I don’t think his loyalty or commitment to the club should be taken as complacency in the fact that he’s happy to stay. He retains a great hunger and an ambition that appeals to me, and that’s one of the main reasons that I wanted to secure his services,” said the Boss.
“He remains a very important part of what we do as an attacking unit. Towards the end of last season, particularly, we identified a lot trends that saw him being involved in a lot of our goals and attacking movement, so we’re very, very keen to retain that and enhance that.”
As well as playing as a forward during his time at the club, Done has also been utilised at left-back and at left wing-back, but Barry-Murphy says he sees the 30-year-old very much as an attacking threat.
“It’s testament to his character and the type of guy that he is that he did so well in different areas of the pitch for the club over the last two years. I’ve played with Matty and I’ve always been aware of what qualities he brought to the team - he causes a lot of disruption to the opposition because of his speed and his dynamic capabilities, so I see him very much as part of our attacking unit.
“We can use him in a number of different ways within that unit. He’s very intelligent tactically and he enjoys challenging himself in various roles within that. He’ll be part of our front line, leading from the front, both with and without the ball.”
Done is very much seen as one of the senior pros within the dressing room and BBM says having that experience in the squad is very beneficial.
“From my own point of view, we have been blessed with some of the senior players we’ve had at the club over the years and Matty is another one. You can get players at that age who are very, very ambitious and retain that hunger to improve every day and he’s certainly one of them.
“He wants to push himself and help all members of the club in pushing forward. The signs I’m looking for with a player like Matty is his ambition and how hungry he is to progress his career. He’s reached the stage of the career where he understands the game and his coaching up of the young players on the pitch reminds me of certain things that I did myself when I got to his age. He retains the speed and dynamic capability that I didn’t have, so it’s a great fit for us! He’s a signing that we’re very, very happy to have.”