General
- Thursday June 25th, 2015 @ 17:15
Team News: Saints Vs Longford Town (Friday, 8pm)
The Saints are back in SSE Airtricity League action after the mid-season break on Friday evening as Liam Buckley's side host Longford Town in Richmond Park (kick-off 8pm, live on Setanta Sports).
It is two weeks since the Saints' last game which saw the Inchicore side overcome Martin Russell's Limerick side on a 3-1 scoreline, goals coming from Chris Forrester, Aaron Greene and Christy Fagan.
Following a 2-2 draw between the sides earlier in the season, Liam Buckley knows that his side face a tough test against Longford Town who have had a good start to the league season so far and currently sit in sixth position.
"We'd a really difficult game in Longford a few months ago and they really got at us early on. We were a little unlucky to give away a penalty and get a man sent off, but also showed great character to come back from two goals down," Buckley told stpatsfc.com.
"We know Tony Cousins will have his players ready again on Friday so we'll need to make sure we get off to a good start and play to our best if we're to get a result."
In team news, Buckley was boosted by the return of Conan Byrne to training from a hamstring injury, while Killian Brennan is also back training after sustaining a knee injury in the Saints' last game against Limerick.
Both will face fitness tests before kick-off but the Saints' manager is hopeful both will be available for selection.
For Saints' keeper Brendan Clarke, Friday's game is an important game as the FAI Cup champions look for what would be a fourth win in a row in all competitions following wins against Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and Limerick recently.
"It's really important that we play well on Friday and get the three points," Clarke told stpatsfc.com.
"We went into the break off the back of three good wins, so we've got to try now and pick up where we left off. We all had a few days off there so it was nice to re-charge the batteries, but we're all back into the routine now so we're focused on the game and getting the win."
Kick-off on Friday night for St Patrick's Athletic vs Longford Town is 8pm, with tickets on sale now from the St Pat's club offices on Emmet Road, Inchicore.
Tickets for the club's home leg of our upcoming Europa League match against Skonto Riga on July 9 in Richmond Park will go on sale at half-time in tomorrow night's game to Season Ticket Holders and Patron Saints members, with the remainder going on general sale next week.
