Rotherham United striker Georgie Kelly is hoping to get more pre-season minutes under his belt when the Millers travel to One Call Stadium to take on Mansfield Town on Saturday afternoon.
The Irishman sat out the midweek outing against fellow Sky Bet Championship side Middlesbrough as a precaution, but revealed he’s available for selection for the friendly against Nigel Clough’s side.
Kelly netted for the Millers in their off-season opener against Parkgate before playing against Spanish second tier side Elche CF in Murcia and is hoping to continue his preparations ahead of the new season against the Stags.
“I’m hoping to play some minutes on Saturday and go from there,” Kelly told www.themillers.co.uk.
“I wasn’t involved against Middlesbrough as a precaution, but I’m ready to go for this one and I want to continue pushing on.
“We’ve got three tough games before the season kicks off in a couple of weeks and I feel like that is exactly what we need.
“That starts tomorrow against Mansfield. We went up against them last year around a similar time in pre-season and it was a really tough match, so I’m sure it’ll be another good test.”
Kelly congratulated after netting against Parkgate.
Kelly was part of the group that jetted off to the Millers’ overseas training ground base in Murcia, as Matt Taylor’s side stepped up their pre-season programme in the scorching Spanish heat.
With temperatures surpassing 30 degrees through the duration of their stay, Kelly admitted it was a physically demanding week from everyone involved but reiterated that the effort put in will stand the team in good stead for the season ahead.
“It was a good trip, I would be lying if I said it wasn’t tough, because it was,” Kelly admitted.
“The heat was a real challenge for all of us to overcome and it is certainly an experience that we will all be better for.
“We had a really good run out against Elche, who were a good test for us as well, so that was another big benefit of the trip.
“It wasn’t easy out there but I think we’ve all felt the benefits since returning to the UK. The work we put in now will all be worth it when it comes to the latter part of the campaign."
“This is a tightly knit group anyway but the chance to go out there as a team and spent more time together can only be beneficial for us.”