Limerick welcome Charlton to the Markets Field

Limerick FC take on English League One side Charlton Athletic in a friendly at the Markets Field tonight (July 11th) at 7.45 pm. Karl Robinson’s outfit are currently on an intensive pre-season tour of Ireland before their own Skybet Football League season begins on August 5th.

The Addicks played Dublin side Crumlin United last evening at Richmond Park in a game which marked Crumlin’s 50th anniversary. Charlton came away with a resounding 0-5 win.

The Valley Parade outfit will certainly be looking for promotion this season from League One and have a few faces which may be familiar to the Limerick football population. Former Leeds United and Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer is Karl Robinson’s new assistant manager.

Charlton striker Tony Watt once scored a sensational winner for Celtic at Parkhead against Barcelona in the Champions League. Furthermore, his strike partner Billy Clarke is from Cork and has carved out a good career in the English lower leagues. Clarke has enjoyed his return to Ireland where he made many underage appearances.

“It’s been really good, the training has been very intense at the same time and it has been a very good week. All my training that I have done for the Ireland teams has been here so it has been really good to reminisce this week.”

Speaking to Sporting Limerick about the friendly last Thursday, Limerick FC defender Shaun Kelly says he is looking forward to the game but highlighted that it is a difficult situation midway through the Airtricity League season.

“It’s a difficult one because obviously the manager may not be able to choose all his first 11 but it will be a good challenge for the younger players and for players to prove themselves.”

Kelly will miss out on the occasion due to injury but will be there to support his teammates as they pit themselves against a team with genuine play-off hopes.

With the postponement of Limerick’s home league fixture with Shamrock Rovers on Saturday evening, due to Rovers European exploits, manager Neil McDonald may be tempted to include a lot of his senior players in preparation for the Sligo Rovers game in a week’s time.