Kenny's China Pride

Kenny Dalglish has spoken of his pride at leading Liverpool into their first ever fixture in mainland China.

The Reds will kick-off their Far East tour by taking on Guangdong Sunray Cave in Guangzhou on July 13 - and the manager is delighted to be giving local fans the opportunity to see their heroes in action for the first time.

Dalglish said: "I've never been to China but I think it is a fantastic opportunity for the club to be going to the Far East to China and Malaysia.

"Two years ago we went to Singapore and Bangkok and the support we've got there is unbelievable. When you consider the size of the population over there, until you get there you don't really understand the magnitude of it and how much the club means to people.

"I suppose it's like everything else - the further away you are from something you respect or love, the more you try to grab anything that's attached to it.

"It's a new destination for most of us, but it's something we are really looking forward to and we really appreciate the support we get from them. It's difficult for them to get too close to the club - but this is a fantastic opportunity for them to get closer with us going out there."

Liverpool last visited the Far East during the summer of 2009 when they played matches in Thailand and Singapore.

The squad were greeted by thousands of fanatical Reds fans on every step of their journey - and Dalglish is expecting similar scenes this time around.

"I think you know how popular and important the club is to so many people, but when you go into Asia the number of people is phenomenal," he said.

"The support we had two years ago in Asia was unbelievable with the numbers and their loyalty, and I am sure it will be much the same this time.

"The two games two years ago were both in front of 50,000 crowds and we had a couple of open training sessions, which we will have again, and thousands turned up to watch us train in the stadium.

"We did a boat trip around Singapore and there were thousands there to see us. We really appreciate their support and loyalty - and I hope they appreciate us going over there.

"Although there will be some (players) missing that they might like to see, we cannot avoid that with injuries."

After taking on Guangdong Sunray Cave, Liverpool will travel to Malaysia to play a Malaysian XI before travelling to Singapore for a training session.

While Dalglish is eager for his side to return to Merseyside with a couple of wins under their belts, he is keen to stress the importance of ensuring the players are at peak fitness for when the Barclays Premier League season gets underway on August 13.

The boss said: "The players are always looking forward to the first game, but it's just an extension to the training.

"There is no point in us taking people away with us if they're not going to get a game, so everybody will get games and minutes. That's the most important thing because at this stage of the season it's about trying to get back to fitness.

"That's what we want to do and the players have trained so well that they all deserve to get some minutes.

"The results are important because we take pride in what we do, but the most important thing is getting as many people as we can as fit as we can and ready for the game on August 13."