General
- Thursday June 13th, 2013 @ 14:28
Dundalk-Saints Team News
Dundalk are next up for Liam Buckley's St Pat's side as they travel to Oriel Park for their final league game before the mid-season break (kick-off 7.45pm).
The game pits Stephen Kenny's fourth placed side against league leaders Pat's who are unbeaten in their last 13 league games. The Saints' last league defeat however was at the hands of the Lilywhites at the beginning of April as goals from John Dillon and Kurtis Byrne gave the Louth side the points.
However the Inchicore men have experienced good times in Oriel Park in recent years with their side holding a 12 game unbeaten record in all competitions in Dundalk's ground (10 wins and two draws) since November 26, 1998.
Dundalk's win over the Saints that year ironically came in Liam Buckley's first spell as Pat's manager, as goals from Peter Withnell and Tom McNulty secured victory for the Lilywhites.
“Dundalk are a bit like us last year in that Stephen [Kenny] has put a good squad together, they're playing well together and enjoying some good results at the moment,” Saints boss Liam Buckley told stpatsfc.com.
“They beat us earlier in the season so we don't need to be reminded about how good they are. But it's a big game for us as we're top of the table at the moment. We're there on merit having worked hard, so we expect the lads to continue to do that tomorrow night and see where it takes us.”
In team news, Buckley reports that he has no additional injury worries following last week's 3-0 home win against Limerick.
The Saints' manager is further boosted with the news that John Russell has returned to training from an ankle injury, and is expected to be available for selection for Friday's clash.
For Drogheda born Killian Brennan, who was named the Airtricity/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) player of the month for May earlier today, the challenge of facing Dundalk is one he is familiar with and he expects both sides to entertain the crowd in Oriel Park.
“It should make for a great game as they're a good side. With a bit of rain up on their pitch, it should hopefully suit us down to the ground. They did beat us the last day 2-1, but I still think we deserved something out of the game that night,” Brennan told stpatsfc.com.
“We haven't feared anyone so far this season, so it'll be the same against Dundalk. We'll go up there and hopefully get three points to take into the break and see what happens.”
