The Blues travel to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday to face Stoke City. Sunday sees City cross the Pennines to face newly promoted Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.
Speaking exclusively to mcfc.co.uk, manager Stuart Pearce said of the games: “I’m going to take two different strong teams. You’ll probably see seven or eight senior players with one or two young players in each team.
“It enables me to get 90 minutes into the majority of those players and it gives the young players the chance to play alongside some of the seniors and push for a place in the 16 when the season starts.”
With the younger players having seen a fair bit of action so far, Pearce noted: “One or two of them have impressed me greatly.”
Of new signing, Darius Vassell, the manager added: “I’m looking to play him at Stoke, probably not for 90 (minutes), as he’s only played 45 minutes of football. But if all goes well he’ll play for an hour.”
