More pre-season games to come

We can still expect a home game on Saturday 2^nd August, a week before the league season gets underway but there are going to be two more games played prior to the games in Scotland.

Owen Coyle has more than once stressed the need for the players to get away and he said this week: "It's important we get away, and the new players blend, and we foster that team spirit and develop it.

"The games in Scotland will be tough, and that's the purpose of that, but it allows the lads to bond. Prior to Scotland we'll be going away as well, but that will be announced next week once we've firmed that up and finalised it.

"That will involve a couple of games, so it is a busy period, but that's the way you want it."

We return for pre-season training on Tuesday 1^st July and the extra trip is likely to be during the week after with the players returning in good time for the five day schedule in Scotland.

The six games currently scheduled (all of them away from Turf Moor) are as follows:

Sat 19^th July - Queen of the South
Mon 21^st July - Partick Thistle
Wed 23^rd July - St. Johnstone
Sat 26^th July - Accrington Stanley
Mon 28^th July - Glentoran
Wed 30^th July - Bradford City