Patience Pays Off for Tom

Tom Lang spoke to the official website this week, ahead of Saturday’s final game of the regular Ladbrokes League 2 campaign.

The defender started off by reviewing the 3-0 victory over Queen’s Park:-

“We played well. It was actually very similar to the game the week before, the way it happened. We started off playing very good football but not getting many rewards, but I think as the season’s gone on our fitness has really shown in the second half of games, with the amount of goals we’ve scored. 

“On Saturday we went through a little poor spell at the start of the second half, but after that we were dominant and we could have won by more in the end. We can’t complain with eight goals in the last two games though, everything’s going well at the moment.

One small personal record that Tom hopes to change before the end of the season is getting off the mark with his first goal for the club:-

“Every week someone else comments about it! The game on Saturday wouldn’t be a bad time to get my first goal, but I’m not concerned about it. As long as we’re keeping clean sheets I’m happy, I’m not in the team to score goals. One or two goals would be nice though and hopefully next season I’ll get a better record.

“Our main job as a back four is to be as solid as we can be to help the team concede as little goals as possible and we’ll keep on doing that to the very last game.”

The 21-year-old suffered a lengthy injury lay-off last season and spoke about the difficulty of trying to work his way back into the starting squad:-

“It was really tough. When I came back I still wasn’t really 100% fit, but I was eager to get back playing. One of my first games back was against Peterhead in October and I was sent off; I thought at the time that I had blown my chance of everything I had been working towards.

“I came back in against Peterhead in January when Dylan Cogill got injured and after that I’ve kept my place in the team. Before that, I remember thinking about how I would ever get back into the team – the boys were playing well and winning games and the manager doesn’t really change many players when we’re winning, which I agree with. I just had to bide my time and be patient and work on things I wouldn’t get to normally if I was playing.

“Now I feel quicker and more powerful and I feel that I’ve got my position at Clyde. I hadn’t played centre back until 2019 so it’s been a great past few months for me. I just had to take my opportunity when it came.”

Depending on results at both Central Park and Hampden on Saturday, The Bully Wee can potentially lift the Ladbrokes League 2 trophy, but Tom was adamant that the squad will prepare for the game in the same ways as any other:-

“We can only focus on our own job. It is a massive game that we need to win, but we’ll prepare for it like any other Saturday. There’s no game where we don’t go for anything other than a win.

“Nothing changes, we’re going there for the three points. We’ll see what happens, we’ll go for the win and take it from there. We can only see how it pans out elsewhere.”

Tom concluded by mentioning how important the supporters have been throughout the season:-

“The fans have been superb. There have been times where we’ve gone in behind at half-time and they’ve still cheered us on. Sometimes you think you don’t have that last bit of energy but the backing from the supporters helps to get you there. 

“They’ve been massive for us this season with their singing and cheering the boys on.”