General
- Monday September 24th, 2012 @ 15:42
Saints Look To Close Gap
The Saints welcome Shamrock Rovers to Inchicore on Tuesday night with Liam Buckley’s side looking to defeat their Dublin rivals and move into second place in the league.
The three meetings between the sides this season have seen wins for both sides, however, the last meeting in July saw the Saints leave Tallaght Stadium with a point following Pat Flynn’s 90th minute equaliser after Craig Sives had put the Hoops in front.
It is the Saints' first league game in two weeks following the two games against Drogheda United in the FAI Cup, with the Inchicore side looking to add to the three wins from their last three league games.
Despite the recent good run of results which now sees the Saints into the semi-finals of the FAI Cup and in third position in the league table, Pats’ manager Liam Buckley told stpatsfc.com that he expects nothing but tough games for all clubs between now and the season's end.
"Nobody should be in any doubt that this will be another tough game for us and that there will be a lot of tough games between now and the end of the season.
"Each club is playing for something, whether it be the fight against relegation or for a European place, so there's a lot to be won and lost over the next few weeks."
Buckley is without long term absentee Mark Rossiter but also has doubts over John Russell (ankle), Hernany Macedo (knee) and Stephen O'Flynn (ill).
For Saints’ skipper Conor Kenna, the Shamrock Rovers game presents a chance to continue the recent run of results the side have earned and continue the momentum created.
"We've been playing well recently and picking up results and all we can look to do is concentrate on our own performances and hope that the run continues.
"The fact that it is Shamrock Rovers and a Dublin Derby at home adds an extra bit of spice to the game but our focus is on winning the three points regardless of the opposition.
"We know that last week's results were favourable to us but we really do have to take each game as it comes between now and the end of the season and get as many points as we can."
