Sligo announce pre-season friendlies against Liverpool U21's and Derry City

Sligo Rovers today announced pre season friendlies against League of Ireland side Derry City, Charlestown Athletic and Liverpool Under 21’s.

Liverpool are set to the come to the Showgrounds on the 10th of February with the Derry City friendly down for the 20th of February and the Charlestown match down for the end of January.

Speaking to the Rovers official website about the friendlies Manager Dave Robertson said, “I have a good relationship with the coaches and the staff that are at Liverpool. There is some excellent people there and they do a fantastic job.

“I made the call about coming over for a game and they have very kindly agreed to do so. It is going to be a fantastic fixture and should be a real test for our new group. It is also a great opportunity for Liverpool coming here. They will get to play in front of a capacity crowd at The Showgrounds who I am sure will be very supportive of both teams. It will help them and us in our development.

“The experience of playing against players who are at such a big club will be great for us. With Liverpool we know that we will be getting a very technically gifted team who will be the game in the right way. The match will be a good test for us and we will have to be clever in how we go about it. It will be a great challenge to play against a team from the top level.

“Hopefully it will be a good evening for the supporters as well, I am sure they will come from all over the country to see it. We have good variety with the three games confirmed so far.

“Derry City will give us a different challenge to the youth of Liverpool and it is a challenge that we will need to prepare us for the season. I am sure Kenny Shiels will be putting out a strong team and it’s a test that will be closer to what we can expect when facing Shamrock Rovers on the 5th of March. So that’s one that we are looking forward to as well.

“Charlestown will be the opening game and it is nice to celebrate the anniversary with them. As a club I think it is important to go out and support the grass roots level where we can. It will also give us a chance to field some of our younger under-19 players and give them the chance to show what they can do.”

Tickets for the Liverpool match will be on sale shortly and will be priced at €10 for adults and €5 for children.