Radford turns to youth

Hull FC coach Lee Radford plans to blood young players when his side takes on Hull KR next Sunday.

Radford is expecting a good test from their neighbours.

“I expect them to and they always do and I’m not expecting this year to be any different,” he said.

“It will be another game for us to blood some young fellas and see how they go against a top end Championship team.

“It will prove worthwhile in the long run and in round 15 when no one remembers the pre-season friendlies.

“It will be another game for us to blood some young fellas and see how they go against a top end Championship team.

“Hopefully when our first team squad are winning around then, we’ll be reaping the rewards.”

The Challenge Cup holders will host the Wolfpack in their first-ever game after the Rovers tie, and they will travel to Salford Red Devils and Doncaster to complete their preparations for the 2017 season.

“I think Salford will be the game we play our top squad, and that will be the only one, just simply due to the fact that the games we play next season,” Radford said.

“So the Doncaster, Toronto and Hull KR games will predominantly be our 13 plus squad members.

“They’re going to get plenty of footy in pre-season, which is a good thing for those young blokes.”