BY DARREN JOHNSTONE – Capital City Press
Gibraltar manager Jeff Wood admits he is looking forward to being reunited with Russell Martin tomorrow after hailing the Scotland defender as a model professional.
Wood worked alongside the Norwich City captain during his time as goalkeeping coach at Carrow Road.
And the Englishman, who was appointed Gibraltar boss in July after being in charge of Lions Gibraltar in the country’s domestic league, reckons there are not many players that work harder than the 29-year-old.
The final Group D clash in Portugal has become a dead rubber after Scotland’s Euro 2016 dream ended in a 2-2 draw with Poland on Thursday but Wood, whose side remain pointless at the basement following their defeat to Georgia, is still excited about meeting up with Martin.
He said: “I worked very closely with Russell at Norwich and he has already texted me just to say, ‘I’ll see you soon’.
“I was the first team goalkeeping coach during my time there. We had quite a small staff at Norwich at the time even though we were in the Premier League.
“I know Russell quite well, you can tell him from me he’s not bad at singing either.
“I think he is an absolutely fantastic professional. He had a few set backs early in his career but he worked at it.
“He was the guy that was there first thing in the morning and was always one of the last to leave. Everything that he’s achieved he’s worked really hard to get.
“It will be fantastic to catch up with him on Sunday, I’m looking forward to it.”
