SALFORD City Reds coach Shaun McRae has vowed to field his strongest available side in Sunday’s historic festive friendly at Leigh.

And the Reds fans who attend the game will be treated to seven debut performances.

Two exciting close season signings from Australia’s NRL in prop Ray Cashmere and half back Jeremy Smith will be the star attractions.

Fellow new arrivals in ex-St Helens winger Dean McGilvray and former Wigan back rower or centre Andrew Thornley will also make their Reds bows while half back Lewis Palfrey, second rower Jack Spencer and hooker Marlon Alker will make their first team debuts after being promoted from the Academy set-up.

McRae said: "This is an important game for us. It is the start of the 2009 season as far as we are concerned.

"We would love to help our fans have a good Christmas by putting in a good performance and getting a win.

"So I will be selecting my strongest available team and the fans who go to the game will be able to see the likes of Ray Cashmere and Jeremy Smith make their debuts. And two of our World Cup players in Stuart Littler and Karl Fitzpatrick will also play."

The match on Sunday, December 28, kick-off 3pm, will be lower league Leigh’s first at their new Leigh Sports Village home. And the Reds are determined to be party poopers.

McRae said: "There will be a pretty big crowd there and Leigh will want to do well. They will be highly motivated and very aggressive.

"It will be a good test for us and I think that it will be a terrific game between two historic clubs.

"At this time of year, with seven or eight weeks to go before the start of the season, the fatigue factor comes in very early in games.

"That makes for a lot of tries and good entertainment for the fans.

"As a coach, you can’t expect too much from the players. They are not fully prepared, as they will be for the start of the season. Games like these are stepping stones towards that.

"But I am still looking for the players to put in a good performance. I want us to win the game and, hopefully, we will come out of it without picking up any significant injuries.

"It is an opportunity for me to look at different combinations in different positions.

"It is also an opportunity to measure where we are at in terms of our pre-season preparations.

"And, for the players, it is an opportunity to impress the fans and the coaching staff and show that they deserve a shirt for the start of the Super League season."

New signings Mark Henry and Luke Swain, World Cup aces John Wilshere and Willie Talau plus Craig Stapleton are all unavailable for the game as they have yet to begin pre-season training.

Rob Parker completes a two-match suspension he picked up at former club Warrington while Robbie Paul, Stuart Littler and Stephen Nash are all recovering from close season surgery.

Skipper Malc Alker also went under the surgeon’s knife at the end of the 2008 campaign but McRae said: "If Malc continues to recover at the same rate as he has been doing then there is a chance that he will play against Leigh."

Meanwhile, McRae insists that he is delighted with how pre-season training has gone so far. He said: "It has not been easy with the weather that we’ve had. But I have to say that I am really happy with where we are at.

"Our fitness conditioner Andy Haigh does a really good job for us, which he proved last season. And the players’ strength and their fitness levels are very pleasing considering there is still a long way to go before the start of the 2009 season."