Striker Josh Magennis struck twice as Charlton Athletic completed their pre-season fixtures with an emphatic 6-1 victory over Championship side Ipswich Town.
The former Glentoran player has now netted four times in pre-season and his club colleague Ricky Holmes reckons that Magennis can easily reach 20 goals this season.
Holmes said: “You’ve seen Josh against Ipswich - he could’ve had a hat-trick but laid it off for Jake (Forster-Caskey) instead.
“Why can’t he get 20 goals this season? He got 10 last year in a team that struggled.
“If we’re successful and we play like we did against Ipswich, he will easily double his goal tally.”
Also on target over the weekend was Northern Ireland winger Stuart Dallas who scored a 20-yard curler for Leeds United in their 2-0 success over Oxford United at Elland Road.
Former Derry City defender Daniel Lafferty also scored a belter as Sheffield United, who also included Caolan Lavery in their starting line-up, ran out 3-2 winners against National League outfit Eastleigh.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland under-19 midfielder Mark McKee scored his first ever goal for Stevenage in their home victory over Dagenham & Redbridge.
McKee recently penned a one-year professional deal with the League Two club.
On-loan midfielder Ollie Norwood played his first game for Fulham since his arrival at Craven Cottage from Brighton, however his debut ended in a disappointing 3-0 defeat to a strong Vfl Wolfsburg side.
After a frustrating time with injury last season striker Will Grigg returned to first team action with Wigan Athletic in their friendly with Grimsby Town on Saturday.
“It was brilliant to be back out there with the boys,” Grigg said. “It was a good exercise and for me to get 45 minutes was really pleasing.
“It’s been a long summer but I’ve been working hard and trying to get back to fitness. The physios have been great with me and I’ve been doing lots of work with them to get my strength up."
“I had a few chances myself today,” added the 26-year-old, “and I probably caught a couple of them too well, but it was just a great feeling to back out there more than anything."
On the injury front, Nottingham Forest winger Jamie Ward left the field on a stretcher in the home encounter with Burnley, while Chris Brunt picked up a slight calf strain in West Brom’s 2-1 reverse at Bristol Rovers.
In Scotland, Kyle Lafferty, who made it four goals in three games for Hearts in midweek, could not add to his tally as the Scottish Premiership side crashed out of the Betfred League Cup after losing a penalty shoot-out to Dunfermline Athletic at Tynecastle.
Finally, under-21 goalkeeper Conor Mitchell was between the posts for National League side Chester who drew 1-1 at home with Port Vale over the weekend.
Chester, who are now managed by former Northern Ireland international Jon McCarthy, are looking at the possibility of taking the Portrush-born netminder on loan from Burnley.
Photo: Charlton Athletic FC
