General
- Thursday May 4th, 2017 @ 22:35
Team News: Bray Wanderers Vs St Pat's
St Patrick's Athletic make the short trip to the Carlisle Grounds as the Saints face Bray Wanderers on Friday evening in the SSE Airtricity League (kick-off 7.45pm).
The Saints will be looking for a reversal in fortunes against the Seagulls having lost to the Wicklow side on the opening night of the season 2-1 in Richmond Park as goals from Gary McCabe and Anto Flood were enough to see off the Saints.
However in Leinster Senior Cup and EA Sports Cup games between the sides this season, the Saints had the bragging rights after recording a 4-0 victory in the Carlisle Grounds in February and a 5-3 victory on penalties (0-0 AET) last month in Inchicore in the EA Sports Cup .
Speaking to stpatsfc.com ahead of the game, St Pat's manager Liam Buckley stressed the importance that his side look to push on in the second series of games in the league season.
"Friday's game marks the first game of the second round of games and we know we have to improve things. It's a big game for both sides as a win can do a lot for both sides. We've already faced Bray three times this season so we each other's games very well. I'd expect it to be another tight game, but hopefully with the fact that we've almost got a fully fit squad, we can our strongest team out there and pick up a result."
"We're coming in off the back of two long and tough away games against Derry and Cork so a third away game in a row will be tough. However there were a lot of positives in Derry last week where we picked up a point so I'm hopeful that we can again put in a good performance and get a result."
Buckley remains without the services of defender Darren Dennehy with an ankle injury, however he otherwise has a full squad to select from including the availability of striker Christy Fagan who made his return to action in Pat's 2-0 defeat to Cork City last Monday in the EA Sports Cup.
VIDEO: The Manager has been looking back on games v Derry & Cork, ahead to Bray and gives the latest on Christy Fagan's fitness pic.twitter.com/pCzsvKmV5y
— St Patrick's Ath (@stpatsfc) 4 May 2017
