General
- Thursday March 13th, 2014 @ 15:35
Team News: Saints V UCD
St Patrick's Athletic entertain UCD in their first home game in the 2014 SSE Airtricity League campaign as they look to record their first win of the season, kick-off in Richmond Park is 7.45pm.
Liam Buckley's side will look to improve on the point they picked up in the 1-1 away draw to Cork City in Turner's Cross last week – Christy Fagan scoring to earn his side a point after Cork took a first half lead through a Garry Buckley goal.
By contrast, UCD will be looking for better fortunes as after losing to Bohemians 3-0 in their league opener in the Belfield Bowl, they suffered another 3-0 loss last Monday against the Gypsies, this time however in the EA Sports Cup.
In team news, the Saints will be unable to call upon the services of midfielder Killian Brennan who suffered a groin injury last week during the warm-up in Cork, while Sean Hoare is also unavailable for selection through injury.
Otherwise, Liam Buckley has a full squad to select from, with several players pushing for places following the Saints' 5-0 win against Ballinamallard United in the Setanta Sports Cup on Monday.
“It is great to be back in league action at home,” admitted Saints' boss Liam Buckley when speaking to stpatsfc.com. “The players always have a spring in their step when they get ready for games in Richmond Park and they really respond to the great support we get from the fans in Inchicore. We'll be looking to get the result on Friday evening for them.”
For former UCD defender Ian Bermingham, the prospect of facing UCD is one he is taking seriously as he outlined that he is expecting a tough game from ‘The Students' as they look to similarly get their first league win of the season.
“Yeah after last week's game, we'll be looking to get our first win on the board as soon as possible, so we'll be going out for the win against UCD. I thought last week we could have sneaked a win against Cork, especially as they'd 10 men for the last 20 minutes of the game,” the left back told stpatsfc.com.
“However it was a fair result as they played very well up till that point too, and they'll be tough to beat in Turner's Cross this year, so it is probably a very good point to have got.”
24 year old Bermingham, who played with ‘The College' from 2007-2008, highlighted the danger his former side will pose the Saints as he pointed to the good standard of teams throughout the league.
“We all know it very well here in Ireland, there are no easy games in this league, so UCD who are usually a very fit side, will pose us difficulties. We also know that it takes time to get up to speed and get up to the rhythm and pace of things, so we'll be working hard now over the next weeks and months to get right for the season ahead.”
