CLOSE season signings Mark Henry, Luke Swain, Willie Talau, Rob Parker and Dean McGilvray will all make their Salford debuts in Saturday’s historic friendly Florida fixture with Leeds.

Robbie Paul and Stephen Nash will also feature in what will be the first ever rugby league game between two English sides on American soil after recovering from their end of season surgeries.

And head coach Shaun McRae is hoping that the other two Reds who went under the surgeon’s knife at the end of the 2008 campaign – skipper Malc Alker and Ian Sibbit – will also be passed fit for the intriguing encounter which will be played over four 20 minute quarters to cater for the American market.

McRae said: "We have taken all 28 of our first team players to Florida and I am hoping that all of them will play some part in the game. That will include Mark Henry, Luke Swain, Willie Talau, Craig Stapleton and John Wilshere, who were all given permission to arrive late for pre-season training.

"And it will also include Rob Parker and Dean McGilvray, who missed our first pre-season friendly with Leigh through suspension and tendonitis in the hip respectively.

"It is great to be promoting the game of rugby league in another country. And, although it is classed as an exhibition game, we are taking the match very seriously.

"It is a groundbreaking venture which is fantastic for Super League and we see it as a great chance to test ourselves against the current Super League champions.

"Leeds are a very good side. They have some fine athletes and some very smart players and this game should show us where we are at in terms of our pre-season preparations.

"We will look at different combinations and see how different players cope under pressure.

"We should be better conditioning wise than we were against Leigh and we should be better with the football.

"And we will need to be because Leeds are as difficult to beat as they come. I greatly admire them and I feel that a big test like this is what you want early on in pre-season.

"All of our players are really looking forward to the game and the fact that we have this game has made us approach our pre-season work in Jacksonville differently than we have in the past.

"This is our sixth trip to Jacksonville and our first game. It comes right in the middle of our two-week stay and we have had to cater for that with our intense training schedule.

"Leeds did it last year and they had a pretty successful season so that indicates that playing a game on your warm weather training camp can work."

The game will be played at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium, which usually hosts American Football games, on Saturday, January 17.

Salford’s director of football Steve Simms said: "We are very excited at the prospect of playing Leeds because it will be a good test for all concerned.

"We are going to be taking on one of the best, if not the best, and it will show us the standard we must aim for being back in Super League.

"I have a very high regard for Leeds. They have a squad crammed with world class talent and we saw last season what a formidable team they can be. They won the Grand Final and they are very strong."

Meanwhile, McRae admits that the credit crunch could prevent him from further strengthening his squad before the start of the season.

With Phil Leuluai having come off the overseas quota and with Craig Stapleton having had his quota status downgraded to a Federation player (Kolpak or EU), the Reds have two Federation quota spots up their sleeves and they have some room on their salary cap to fill them.

But McRae said: "If somebody becomes available who would improve the squad then I would go to the board and try to put a good case forward for signing him. But we don’t have anyone lined up and signing new players is not a priority for us at the moment.

"Our squad of 28 players is pretty good but, as a coach, I’d love to have another player or two. But things are not easy for anybody financially at the moment. So signing more players is not something that is necessarily going to happen.

"You have to fit in with the current restraints and we are pleased with the make-up of the squad. There is certainly competition for places right across the board."