De Pedro impressed on his debut

ASSISTANT Manager Alan Murray was delighted with the workout the players got this evening, despite their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Sporting Lisbon.

Substitute Marius Niculae scored the only goal of the game moments into the second half, to send Rovers to their first defeat of their pre-season campaign.

After the game, Murray was content with the way the progress the players were making in their build-up to the seasons opener against West Bromwich Albion on August 14th.

"It was an excellent workout," said Murray, "It was exactly what we needed.

"They played exactly the way we expected, they kept the ball and they were paitient and made us work had and thats the important aspect.

"We're getting closer to kick-off and we're looking a different options, and we've done that again tonight and learnt a lot."

It was the first time Rovers had conceded a goal this pre-season, but Murray has been more than happy with the preparations of the first team so far.

"We've had a good pre-season in Germany and then a good build up against the likes of Stockport and Preston, and today it was just the workout we needed to do."

Murray had a praise for winger Javi De Pedro, who made his first start on home soil in a Rovers shirt.

"Javi has been unlucky and missed a few days with a strain, he's played at the top level in Spain and we're more than sure he'll do a job for us."

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