FC Edmonton head coach Jeff Paulus isn’t letting a 2-0 loss against Al Classico rivals Cavalry FC get his team down.

The two bitter foes met in a pre-season friendly last week, with Tommy Wheeldon Jr.’s Calgary-based outfit getting the better of his opposite at Edmonton, but Paulus pointed out that the match still drew “plenty of positives” as he reflected back with his impressions on the tilt.

“Fitness levels are very good at the moment,” Paulus outlined to Greyson Knutson of Eddies TV. “We were under it a bit for 15 minutes, really disorganized. Credit to Cavalry, they were quite organized in their press, good on the ball, and really made it difficult to try and play any football at all.

“But once we settled in and once we started to relax and get our shape initially, the defensive shape that we’ve worked on a little bit, and started to press them, things came along. After 15 minutes, I would say the game was quite even; we stopped them from being able to play out of the back … so very encouraging signs for us there.”

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