Focus turns to league as pre-season is concluded
SLIGO ROVERS CABINTEELY
SLIGO Rovers manager Ger Lyttle is hoping to add the last two players to his squad this week ahead of the weekend’s league opener against Limerick.
The Bit o’Red drew 3-3 with First Division side Cabinteely on the astro at The Showgrounds on Saturday afternoon.
Alistair Roy, Adam Morgan and Caolan McAleer were all on the scoresheet during Rovers’ last pre-season game.
Conditions were far from ideal, with Lyttle disappointed at having to play another game on an astro pitch
“It was awful. It’s not ideal. Pre-season has been big-time disrupted by the weather. It is what it is, I’m sure it’s been the same with everyone. We can’t be too negative about it. The positive is that we have our astro pitch here linked to the ground which is ideal for conditions like this. We’d have liked to play on grass today but it wasn’t to be. We’d have liked to have our full squad available, but we made do with what we had and we got as much out of it as we could. It was a good work out for us against Cabinteely,” he told The Sligo Champion.
The grass pitch at The Showgrounds has not been played on since the season’s conclusion, and with three games in nine days, and the weather not looking like improving just yet, it remains to be seen how the pitch will cope.
Although many pitches across the league will be in a similar position as the season starts.
Lyttle had to plan without several key players for Saturday’s game, although Craig Roddan returned to make his first appearance of pre-season.
“David Cawley had the flu, Adam Wixted had the flu which hit him hard during the week, he trained yesterday a little bit and he wasn’t right,” Lyttle explained.
“Eduardo (Pincelli) was carrying a niggle and we didn’t want to risk him, as was Regan Donelon, hopefully have them back Monday for training.”
Alistair Roy, who joins on loan from Hearts, impressed Lyttle.
Chelsea goalkeeper Mitchell Beeney played the first 45 minutes in goals, while Nigerian centre-half Celestine Lazarus played 90 minutes.
It appears as though both will join the Bit o’Red, with Beeney joining on loan.
“I was very pleased with his (Roy’s) performance, he looked a threat with his pace which is something that we’ve been trying to add, now we’ve got a bit of quality and a bit of pace. Caolan McAleer I thought was excellent as well, he showed real threat and pace. Adam Morgan was frustrated first-half, second-half he was a lot better and worked his socks off.
“Midfield, probably wasn’t ideal because we were chopping and changing because of the numbers, Raff did a great job at wing-back. I was pleased. The two lads that came in on trial looked decent as well.”
And now that the season’s start is just days away, Lyttle and his players are chomping at the bit to get started.
“We’re looking forward to it. It’s been a frustrating pre-season, we thought initially we had great games pencilled in, with Galway, Finn Harps, Cabinteely and you’re thinking ‘this will be a great test’ and it hasn’t not been but because of the weather, we haven’t been on the pitch. We don’t make excuses.”
And Lyttle is pleased with his squad’s progress throughout the course of pre-season, with fitness levels where he wants them to be.
The fitness levels are right up there. We’ve done some stuff during the week, similar to what we did at the start of the season, the boys were knocking 30 seconds off their times so it shows a progression in fitness.”
Lyttle is hopeful that he will have a full squad at his disposal, with some tough decisions to be made.
This is the stage I wanted to get to. It’s given me a massive headaches in terms of who to put in. It’s going to be there for players who will be suited for the different teams we’re playing. It’s about being professional. The boys need to be professional and understand it’s a long season. We have a good changing room and we won’t have any sulkers in the team. The team we pick will be the best team we think is capable of winning. “
Rovers host Limerick on Saturday at 7.45pm.