Lyttle previews Glentoran friendly

Sligo Rovers manager Gerard Lyttle has said Saturday’s mid-season friendly with Glentoran will be useful for keeping his side on schedule after the league fixture with Dundalk was postponed.

Lyttle has thanked his counterpart Ronnie McFall for agreeing with a fixture swap in order to facilitate the game.

It will kick off at 3pm in the Oval.

Lyttle spoke about the week of training this week.

“We knew it our heart that the match with Dundalk was going to be postponed. Obviously anything can happen in football, but it was very likely to be called off.

“We made arrangements for the Glentoran game and I’m really grateful to Ronnie for that. They were due to play Ballyclare and made a switch to accommodate us so they’ve really done us a good turn. It’ll be a tough game on a good surface.

“All week we were preparing for the league game on Sunday – we had to – so we only really switched our focus for today’s session.

“For a training session the day before a match, we worked very hard today and the lads will get a good exercise on Saturday. We had a double session on Wednesday so they are certainly maintaining their focus.”

Lyttle said the two-weeks of no league game will allow him to integrate the new players further and also test different tactical approaches.

“Kris (Twardek) had a minor twinge of his ankle today, but I don’t think it’s too serious. We’ll see how that is on Saturday. Other wise it’s just Adam Morgan and Gary Boylan out so we’ll have a strong squad.

“We’ve used some of the sessions this week to have a look at a few things and the likes of Mikey and Lee can get up to speed further. We’ll have to be mindful of not overloading them give their lack of matches but it’s all being managed.

“The intention is by the time we come to face Shamrock Rovers, we’ll be in a good place to go there and have a go at them.”