Michael Beale spoke to the press following the 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim in the final game of pre-season. Here's what he had to say...

What's the situation with the players missing from the squad? 

We had a bit of illness in the camp so we were down to the bare bones at the back. Johnly then had a problem at half-time and then Leon gets cramp. All of a sudden I’m thinking ‘how do we make a team out of this?’ Overall we had decent opportunities and possession but then we let in two really poor goals. If it was the main back four and the main guys then I would be a little bit more concerned. But, it was a makeshift back four today. At half-time, we spoke about that and we were better after the break. There was a bit of a bug going around at the start of the week. Hopefully, anybody who was ill will be back by this week. One player actually got on the team bus to go to the airport on Friday. We had to turn around and drop him back off because he was so unwell. The preparations were not ideal and we were against a good Bundesliga team. Overall there was a lot to be pleased about and while defensively it wasn’t a pass there were circumstances for that.

Danilo looked sharp on debut...

It has been a whirlwind couple of days for him. He has only just met his new team-mates and he is straight on the pitch. I know the fans want to see more of him but I have to be fair to the boy. He has a great personality and I thought he showed a couple of minutes of real quality.

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There's been a lot of changes in the forward areas, do you expect it will take time for them to gel?

Sam and Abdallah are in front of everyone else. They are in front of Kemar (Roofe), Cryriel (Dessers) and Danilo. I’d prefer these guys to be together every day and get stronger, we’ve got a lot of firepower this year and options. Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell have been playing in a midfield three and equally, they want to play closer to the goal. We’ve got Ianis Hagi, Fashion Sakala and Rabbi Matondo - we’ve got a lot of options. Once the team settles down for the first league game, you’re not going to see everyone play at the same time. It gives us strength in depth. 

Cifuentes latest…. 

It’s going to be a matter of days. The talks are ongoing and LA has been excellent to deal with throughout. I’ve been close to the deal throughout and close to the talks. There are visas and medicals when coming across but we will hopefully have good news in a couple of days. It’s going to happen, but it’s just a matter of time. 

He’s been playing, could he be ready for Kilmarnock? 

He’s coming over from LA to Glasgow so there’s acclimatisation in a number of aspects. Let’s allow the boy to get in as he’s not just here for the day, he’s here for the future. He’s a really good player, box-to-box and he can play as a No.8 or No.6. He’s been playing from Christmas down but there’s been a break in the MLS for a couple of weeks and that’ll be good for him. We don’t want him to be playing for the full year so the week off has been good to him. I’ve been on the phone and watching him do some work. We are excited to have him here but let’s see when he’s here and settled into the team. He’s a player that can take us to another level.