The manager ahead of the Sunderland friendly
Manager Graham Kavanagh spoke to us ahead of the Sunderland friendly on Tuesday evening.
“I would imagine they’ll be bringing a strong squad because they have one or two signings they’ll want to take a look at,” he said.
“It will be a different game to anything we'll experience this season and I've told the players it's a good chance for us to play football. Sunderland will probably allow us to play.
“I think the important thing for us will be not allowing them to express themselves because we know they'll have a lot more quality than us.”
"We’ve spoken to the lads about what they need this season and I've told them League Two isn't about turning up and playing pretty football,” he continued. “I watched a lot of League Two football last season and the games generally don't seem to get stretched until the 60 minute mark, so you've got to fight and scrap to stay in it.”
"Sunderland have been very good with us, from the FA Cup tie last season through to different bits behind the scenes regarding players and trying to help us out,” he said. “This game now gives us another chance to improve that relationship. That can only be good for the club.
“I think they understand where we are financially and they know we're trying to do things the right way. They want to help us if they can. It works for everybody and hopefully we'll be able to use them this season in terms of players and things like that, but we’ll see how things go.”
