ROOFE RELISHING FIRST HOME OUTING

FREEVIEW: PRE-ATALANTA INTERVIEWS 28.7.16

Forward looks ahead to Saturday's Elland Road friendly with Atalanta...

Kemar Roofe is relishing the prospect of running out at Elland Road for the first time as he prepares for Saturday’s pre-season friendly with Serie A side Atalanta BC.

The forward became our sixth summer signing earlier this month, arriving from Oxford United on a four-year-deal, and Roofe has already caught the eye in his three pre-season outings so far – notably assisting Alex Mowatt’s opener at Peterborough last weekend.

The 23-year-old, who ended the last campaign as League Two’s Player of the Year, got a first taste of his new home ground at Wednesday morning’s training session and is now eager to perform in front of the Elland Road faithful.

“It’s very good – the surface is amazing,” he said. “That’s what you expect from a place like this and it was good to get out on it on Wednesday.

“It’s important to get to see the pitch and the surroundings, so that you’re not surprised by anything when it comes to Saturday.

“I can’t wait for Saturday. There’ll be a big crowd on Saturday and, when the season starts, it’s probably going to be packed. It’s going to be amazing."

Reflecting on last Saturday’s defeat at Peterborough, Roofe added: “It was very difficult because it was hot, but it was good in a way because we haven’t experienced a temperature like that as a team before.

“We dominated the first half but started to tire in the second half.

“We made it so hard for Peterborough to break us down and our attacking play was good as well. We’ve been working on it every day in training.

“It’s a new team with new players getting to know each other. We did well.

“We’ve worked hard and we’ve taken the right steps this summer. We’ve just got to trust our training and what we can do.

“We’ve done the hard work in pre-season and now it’s the fun bit of getting into the games.

“Hopefully I can continue like that as well. I’ve come here to impress, continue working hard and hopefully help the team to win games.”

TICKETS: Click here to join us for Saturday's pre-season friendly with Atalanta at Elland Road! Tickets are priced from just £12 for adults and £6 for concessions!

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