Dave Edwards is ready to use his Wales ‘Euro 2016’ experience to the good of Wolves and stake a claim to be part of an “exciting” Molineux future.
The 30-year-old midfielder has been back in training this week after being given a fortnight off following being part of the Welsh squad which impressed in France this summer, reaching the semi finals of Euro 2016.
He is hoping to get some minutes in tomorrow’s final pre-season friendly against Swansea, as he heads into the last year of his current contract keen to be a part of a new era following the takeover by the Fosun Group.
“It is nice to be back in and hopefully being in contention for the first week of the season,” says Edwards.
“If I had been off for any longer that might have been a struggle.
“It was nice to have some time at home after the Euro’s and just been able to rest up a little bit.
“It wasn’t really about needing a holiday and we just had a couple of mini-breaks with the family and getting back to normality!
“It was a good couple of weeks break but I felt ready to get back in and get back to training.
“Hopefully I can be involved at some stage tomorrow.
“I had a couple of weeks break before going into the Euros and then a couple of weeks after but I feel ready to be involved now and it is important to try and get some minutes before the start of the season.
“I’ve had four days training now and have done the right things through the summer so hopefully that will put me in good stead.
“I did have a slight groin injury towards the end of the Euros and I was only really out for the Belgium game and was touch and go for the Portugal game which I was on the bench for.
“I didn’t really train before the Portugal game and had I been fully fit I might have had a chance of coming on.
“It has been fine ever since and that was over three weeks ago so all is good now.”
Edwards figured in all three of Wales’ group games before missing out against Northern Ireland and then injury effectively ruling him out against both Belgium and Portugal.
But the experiences both on and off the pitch have given him added confidence ahead of returning to club duties shortly after the takeover was confirmed.
“I have had time to reflect on what happened in the summer now and the experiences I had with Wales,” he says.
“I wouldn’t say it is about closing the door on it – but enjoying it and now moving on to a new and exciting challenge with everything that is happening at the club at the moment.
“It would be great for me to be a part of that and that is going to be my main focus.
“Off the back of what happened in the summer I think I have come back more confident as a footballer and added things to my game over the last couple of months which hopefully I can implement into winning a place in the Wolves team.
“I hope that everything now works out well here.
“I think the takeover needed to happen and the investors seem like a really positive step for the club.
“You have seen other investors go in at other clubs and it hasn’t quite worked but these guys seem to know what they are doing.
“Hopefully we can reap the rewards from that.
“Obviously I want to be involved and be playing and that will be my aim going into the final year of my contract.
“I need to be playing games and I hopefully I can do that here.”
With a turnover expected in the playing squad – Fosun/Wolves representative Jeff Shi has suggested the club is aiming for “five to eight new players” – the experience of the likes of Edwards, skipper Danny Batth and Carl Ikeme could be vital heading into the new Molineux dawn.
“I have been at the club for nine years now and there are others like Danny and Carl who have been here even longer,” says Edwards.
“We have all been through some different set-ups here down the years.
“There is going to be a lot of change and I imagine there will be players coming and going and it is important that people like us three with experience of the club can help any new faces settle in quickly.
“The season is only just around the corner and you don’t want to take a couple of months to adapt because that could rule you out of anything or even put you in trouble.
“It is important that whoever comes in we make them feel welcome and get them settled into the team as quickly as possible and that will help the whole club.”
