Grezza pumped up for friendly clashes

Graham Alexander can’t wait to test his men against the best England and Europe have to offer.
Graham AlexanderGraham Alexander
Graham Alexander

Town have two home friendlies on their pre-season schedule and both are exciting prospects – a Lancashire derby clash with the manager’s former club Burnley and the visit of La Liga side Getafe, who have traded blows with Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain.

Alexander made it clear a lot of work has gone into arranging such an eye-catching schedule ahead of Town’s second League One campaign.

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The Town boss said: “We’ve worked hard to get these fixtures over the line.

“It’s notorious how hard it is to organise pre-season. We have to start months in advance and there are a lot of changes in decision-making along the way.

“We wanted two tests, two different tests for us at home.”

And Alexander believes the games against Burnley on July 28 and Madrid side Getafe three days later will be a great way to show off his new-look squad.

Town have added Jimmy Ryan, Amari’i Bell and Declan McManus to their ranks, with Alexander hinting there are more signings to come before the start of the new campaign.

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He added: “Burnley have recently been in the Premier League and Getafe are a top-level team from Spain. We know we’re going to be tested.

“I think it will be great for the supporters to see their team, a new team, compete against those sorts of clubs.”

Alexander is also ready for a tough cross-border encounter when his side travel to Rugby Park to face Kilmarnock on July 25.

He continued: “Kilmarnock will be stern too – England v Scotland games always are.

“We always knew we wanted one of those. We’ve had one for the last couple of years and they’ve worked out well.”