Dalla Valle out to impress
Steve Hunter, 23rd Feb 2010
LiverpoolFC.tv
Liverpool Reserves take on Sunderland tonight with Finnish starlet Lauri Dalla Valle in the squad for the first time this season.
The striker made the move to Melwood during the summer but due to injury has not featured for John McMahon's side this season. After impressing for Rodolfo Borrell's under-18s against Manchester City at the weekend the Finn is included in the squad for the match tonight.
Spanish starlet Daniel Pacheco will miss the game because he is at a training camp with Spain Under-19s.
Kick-off at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground is at 7pm and you can watch the game exclusively live online with an e-Season Ticket.
"Dalle Valle is coming with us and he deserves his chance as he is a good prospect," McMahon told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"We have been keeping an eye on him even though he has being playing for the under-18s this season and he is making good progress. He missed a lot of this season through injury but he now has his chance and we will see how he copes and takes on board what we want him to do.
"It is an exciting time for Lauri and it's a position where we are short on numbers. Nathan Eccleston is doing well on loan at Huddersfield and Nikola Saric is still a couple of weeks away from returning from injury.
"It's a great opportunity for him and hopefully he will take that chance."
He added: "It will be a tough game as Sunderland beat Manchester City 2-1 last week so they will be in good spirits.
"They are always a good team to play because they will be competitive and it should be a good game. Sunderland won this league last season so they always work hard."
Due to a lack of recent action, the Reds go into this game having dropped to third place in the league. They are five points behind leaders Manchester United but have two games in hand.
"It's nice for the players to be involved in the title race and we will see what happens," he said. "We play United towards the end of the season so it will be an exciting end to our campaign, that's for sure."
McMahon also spoke of his frustration at the recent number of postponed games this season after the last two games fell to the bad weather.
"It's getting beyond a joke now," he added. "Burnley had a pitch inspection at Accrington last week at 12 noon and the green light was given for the game. We got to Accrington only to be told the game was off so that was very frustrating.
"It's difficult to fit these games in now so we could end up playing two or three games a week, but we have to get on with it."
Steve Hunter, 23rd Feb 2010
LiverpoolFC.tv
Liverpool Reserves take on Sunderland tonight with Finnish starlet Lauri Dalla Valle in the squad for the first time this season.
The striker made the move to Melwood during the summer but due to injury has not featured for John McMahon's side this season. After impressing for Rodolfo Borrell's under-18s against Manchester City at the weekend the Finn is included in the squad for the match tonight.
Spanish starlet Daniel Pacheco will miss the game because he is at a training camp with Spain Under-19s.
Kick-off at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground is at 7pm and you can watch the game exclusively live online with an e-Season Ticket.
"Dalle Valle is coming with us and he deserves his chance as he is a good prospect," McMahon told Liverpoolfc.tv.
"We have been keeping an eye on him even though he has being playing for the under-18s this season and he is making good progress. He missed a lot of this season through injury but he now has his chance and we will see how he copes and takes on board what we want him to do.
"It is an exciting time for Lauri and it's a position where we are short on numbers. Nathan Eccleston is doing well on loan at Huddersfield and Nikola Saric is still a couple of weeks away from returning from injury.
"It's a great opportunity for him and hopefully he will take that chance."
He added: "It will be a tough game as Sunderland beat Manchester City 2-1 last week so they will be in good spirits.
"They are always a good team to play because they will be competitive and it should be a good game. Sunderland won this league last season so they always work hard."
Due to a lack of recent action, the Reds go into this game having dropped to third place in the league. They are five points behind leaders Manchester United but have two games in hand.
"It's nice for the players to be involved in the title race and we will see what happens," he said. "We play United towards the end of the season so it will be an exciting end to our campaign, that's for sure."
McMahon also spoke of his frustration at the recent number of postponed games this season after the last two games fell to the bad weather.
"It's getting beyond a joke now," he added. "Burnley had a pitch inspection at Accrington last week at 12 noon and the green light was given for the game. We got to Accrington only to be told the game was off so that was very frustrating.
"It's difficult to fit these games in now so we could end up playing two or three games a week, but we have to get on with it."
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