A goal for Dickov on his debut for Rovers

THE ROVERS players dusted off their football boots and comfortably won their first pre-season game of the summer this afternoon against SG Schorndorf in Germany.

Paul Gallagher wasted no time in getting back into the groove, firing Rovers into the lead after just 80 seconds. Strike partner Jonathan Stead also hit two first half goals on 33 and 40 minutes, sandwiched in between was a strike from Rovers' new striker Paul Dickov, which saw Rovers go in at half time with a 4-0 lead.

Wholesale changes were made at half-time, but that didn't stop Rovers continuing to find the back of the net against the German amateurs.

Matt Jansen added a fifth on 66 mins, then a trialist added two more before Lucas Neill completed the scoring on 85 minutes.

Graeme Souness will be pleased to see Barry Ferguson, Jay McEveley and David Thompson all play some part in the match. But one man who couldn't take part was Spanish winger Javier De Pedro, as his international clearance hadn't come through in time.

Rovers are next in action on Tuesday when they take part in a mini tournament in Reutlingen.

ROVERS: Enckelman (sub Yelldell 77 mins), Gray (sub Gresko 46 mins), Short (sub McEveley 46 mins), Johansson, Neill, Ferguson (sub Flitcroft 46 mins), Tugay (sub Thompson 46 mins - sub Gray 77 mins), Emerton (sub Reid 46 mins), Stead (sub Trialist 46 mins), Gallagher, Dickov (sub Jansen 46 mins).

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