Kelly Cates’ hosting of Friday Night Football praised by rugby legend

Brian O'Driscoll leads the praise.

Kelly Cates has slotted seamlessly into her new role as the host of Sky Sports' Friday Night Football this season, and she was at her best on Friday night at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal's entertaining 3-3 draw with Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool. Cates replaced last year's hosts Rachel Riley and Jeff Stelling at the start of the season, after Riley quit back in May. Her departure came after she was subjected to online abuse after labelling Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 loss to West Ham a "bottle job", before she decided to move onto other roles. Previously, Cates worked as a presenter for BBC and has she had experience with Channel 5. She also chairs 5Live's 606 with Ian Wright, a football discussion on the back of the weekend's action, and is widely praised for her contribution to this. She has also been hosting some of Sky's Football League coverage this season, as well as being one of the presenters for The Debate, Sky's new nightly show featuring pundits discussing the latest talking points in football. The Glasgow native has earned plenty of praise for her solid anchoring of the show, with Irish rugby legend Brian O'Driscoll hailing her contribution. https://twitter.com/BrianODriscoll/status/944324550698962946 Cates, the daughter of Liverpool's iconic former front man Kenny Dalglish has drawn praise from far and wide in the last few weeks. https://twitter.com/MichelleOwen7/status/943551350771679233 https://twitter.com/thetucker70/status/944370684481953792 https://twitter.com/robsutcliffeCFC/status/944353311054057472