Head Coach Richard Marshall has said that he wants his Salford Red Devils team to produce quality performances at the AJ Bell stadium ahead of the team’s first competitive home game of the season.
Salford will face Widnes Vikings in the Third Round of the Betfred Challenge Cup on Saturday, and Marshall expressed that he was looking forward to the match.
Marshall said: “We played a couple of friendlies here and I thought we played really well in them.
“We want to play really well at home this year, and we’ve got an opportunity this week to do that.”
While the match will be played without fans in attendance, Marshall explained he was relishing the return of fans, saying that he looked forward to building a rapport with the local community.
Marshall added: “I want to get a relationship with our support and our local community.
“The lifeblood of our game is our fans, and we want to repay them with our performances on the pitch.”
Salford will be the favourites when they face Widnes, but Marshall warned against underestimating the Betfred Championship side.
“I’m sure Widnes will be coming with a really concise game plan and try to unnerve and rattle us,” Marshall explained.
“The Championship teams come with lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm and a really good simple plan.”
📋 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐃 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒
👥 Richard Marshall has selected his 21-man squad for Saturday's @Betfred #ChallengeCup Third Round clash with @WidnesRL
🤔 Thoughts, Salford fans?
🎟️ Get your Our League game day pass here 👉 https://t.co/X5zh0fvh4l
💪 #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/KMrVz5NAJJ
— Salford Red Devils 👹 (@SalfordDevils) April 8, 2021
Marshall revealed that he wanted to strike a balance between selecting a strong team and rotation but would be forced in to making some certain changes, confirming that both Dan Sarginson and Elijah Taylor will be out through injury. Kevin Brown is also unavailable due to suspension.
Marshall said: “We want to win this game and progress in the Challenge Cup.
“We’ve got some fringe players that have not played and who I’ve not had a look at yet, but at the same time we’ve not found our rhythm.
“We want to put a strong team out and we want to go and win the game.
“We’re ready for the challenge.”
Image credit: Steve McCormick
Written by: Patrick Ryan
