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Neil Lennon praised recent arrivals Francesco Pisano and Wellington Silva ahead of their potential debuts against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The duo moved to Macron Stadium earlier in the week with Pisano signing a two-year contract after joining the club on a free transfer, while Wellington completed a season-long loan move from Arsenal.
Confirming Wellington’s involvement against Forest, the manager conceded Pisano was less likely to be involved, before revealing he has high hopes for both players.
“Pisano hasn’t done a pre-season because he’s been out of contract and basically training on his own, doing specialist work,” revealed Lennon. “He won’t be far away but it might be too soon to put him in the squad for tomorrow. Wellington will be involved.
“I think Pisano always wanted to come to England. He had spent a long time with Cagliari and is an experienced player.
“We’ve been working on this one for quite a while. He was out of contract and the opportunity came up for him to play in England. He had other options but thankfully he chose to come to us.
“He’s an attacking full-back with a fantastic engine. He’s very aggressive. It will take him a week or two to acclimatize.
“It’s a different culture here – a different style of play. We need to get some work done on the training ground and get him up to speed fitness-wise as well.
“It gives me competition in the right-back area. We have two experienced right-backs in the squad now, which is what we didn’t have last year.”
Lennon continued: “Wellington has been here since Sunday evening. He has trained all week and has had a few days to acclimatize himself with the squad and the surroundings.
“He looks excited, he looks happy and we’re pleased to have got him. He’s highly thought of by Arsenal.
“They think he may need some more game-time and thankfully we’ve going to have the opportunity to give him that.
“We watched him for quite a while last season and we liked what we saw. We’ve been liaising with Arsenal over the last few months to see if there would be an opportunity to bring him here later on down the line.
“He’s pacey, he’s an eliminator and he’s a good crosser of the ball. He’s a creative player but he’s very direct as well. I think he’s a player that the fans will take to.”
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The duo moved to Macron Stadium earlier in the week with Pisano signing a two-year contract after joining the club on a free transfer, while Wellington completed a season-long loan move from Arsenal.
Confirming Wellington’s involvement against Forest, the manager conceded Pisano was less likely to be involved, before revealing he has high hopes for both players.
“Pisano hasn’t done a pre-season because he’s been out of contract and basically training on his own, doing specialist work,” revealed Lennon. “He won’t be far away but it might be too soon to put him in the squad for tomorrow. Wellington will be involved.
“I think Pisano always wanted to come to England. He had spent a long time with Cagliari and is an experienced player.
“We’ve been working on this one for quite a while. He was out of contract and the opportunity came up for him to play in England. He had other options but thankfully he chose to come to us.
“He’s an attacking full-back with a fantastic engine. He’s very aggressive. It will take him a week or two to acclimatize.
“It’s a different culture here – a different style of play. We need to get some work done on the training ground and get him up to speed fitness-wise as well.
“It gives me competition in the right-back area. We have two experienced right-backs in the squad now, which is what we didn’t have last year.”
Lennon continued: “Wellington has been here since Sunday evening. He has trained all week and has had a few days to acclimatize himself with the squad and the surroundings.
“He looks excited, he looks happy and we’re pleased to have got him. He’s highly thought of by Arsenal.
“They think he may need some more game-time and thankfully we’ve going to have the opportunity to give him that.
“We watched him for quite a while last season and we liked what we saw. We’ve been liaising with Arsenal over the last few months to see if there would be an opportunity to bring him here later on down the line.
“He’s pacey, he’s an eliminator and he’s a good crosser of the ball. He’s a creative player but he’s very direct as well. I think he’s a player that the fans will take to.”
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