A rookie no longer…
At the halfway stage of the first leg of preseason, it’s easy to see why Jack Harrison is in a positive frame of mind.
Injured at this point in his first year at NYCFC, this time he’s building up a head of steam for his Sophomore season with the team on the training camp in Jacksonville.
Harrison was present at the MLS SuperDraft in Los Angeles earlier this month where he watched fellow Generation Adidas winger Jonathan Lewis quite literally follow in his footsteps.
Although they both can play in the same position, no one was happier than Jack to welcome Jonathan to the club as he believes competition for places is in the best interests of all parties.
Harrison said: “All of the new guys are settling in really well – they seem to be very comfortable very quickly which is good as they can express themselves on the field now, so it’s been good to have new additions.
“Jon’s one of them who is doing really well, he’s settled down really quickly – it’ll be really interesting to see what he does this year.
“It’s great to have competition for places and it’s healthy competition too because we all get along really well off the field which helps when we’re on it.
“It’s been good – everyone is working hard and we’re in a good spot. We have the same mindset – we want to do really well this season and it starts in preseason.
“It’s great to have a full preseason after what happened last year where I was injured and couldn’t get off to the start I wanted.”
Harrison is already eyeing the next leg of preseason when NYCFC travel down to Ecuador to face Emelec.
Although the match is a friendly arranged to launch the Ecuadorian giants’ new stadium, Jack knows that every opportunity to play in preseason is vital as the team look to sharpen up for the new campaign.
The 20-year old added: “I’ve never been down there before so I don’t know what to expect but I’m sure it’ll be a good experience for everyone.
“It’ll definitely be a tough game and not one we’ll take for granted. We’ll have to go down there and work hard to show what we can do.”
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NYCFC v Emelec will be streamed live on NYCFC.com and MLSSoccer.com on Wednesday February 8.
