By Andrew McDonnell (@AndrewSJourno)
Pre-Season Friendly
Venue: Craik Park, Morpeth Common, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2YX
Date: Friday, July 14, 2017
Kick-Off: 7:00pm
Morpeth Town have their first home pre-season friendly of the summer as they welcome a Sunderland XI to Craik Park.
The Highwaymen have played two pre-season games so far and won their game with Alnwick Town on Wednesday evening.
It’s quite a quick turnaround for the players, having less than 48 hours between games, but they’ll be keen on getting minutes under the belt, especially against a team like Sunderland.
Elliot Dickman’s side have had one pre-season friendly so far, and it’ll be a great occasion for everybody associated with Morpeth on the night.
Team News
Morpeth welcome back top-goalscorer Liam Henderson for the game with Sunderland, but Mark Davison is unavailable still.
Luke Carr, Sean Taylor and Michael Chilton, who all played a part on Wednesday night, aren’t available for the game with the Black Cats.
The Manager’s Views
Co-manager Dave Malone said: “We haven’t got a big squad on Friday night due to holidays and various reasons, so we’re trying to minutes.
“It’s been a tough week. We played Berwick on Saturday, training Monday, we played a good Alnwick side on Wednesday and then Sunderland on Friday.
“We haven’t had a lot of rest. To get people up to scratch, they’re having to push themselves hard.”
The Opposition
Dickman’s side finished seventh in Premier League 2 last season, and made it to the final of the Premier League International Cup, where they lost 5-0 to FC Porto.
With the first team gearing up for life in the Sky Bet Championship, newly-appointed manager Simon Grayson may give some youngsters a chance this season.
Tom Robson is in the Sunderland squad for tonight, and the defender has played for the first team before, and there are other faces that you may recognise in Dickman’s side.
The Black Cats lost 2-1 to Northern League Division One outfit Sunderland RCA on Monday night.
Admission Information
Supporters are encouraged to wear football shirts tonight, and we will have buckets around the ground to donate to the Bradley Lowery Foundation.
Admission charges for the game are; Adults £5, Concessions £3 and Kids £1.
