General
- Wednesday July 25th, 2012 @ 15:00
Richmond Ready To Host Another European Night
St Pat's host NK Široki Brijeg this Thursday hoping to advance to the third qualifying round of the Europa League and continue their proud European record in Inchicore.
The Saints are unbeaten in their last 10 European matches in Inchicore, and go in search of their fifth consecutive win in European competition in Richmond Park.
With the knowledge that a win or 0-0 draw will put the Saints through following last week's 1-1 draw in Široki Brijeg, a full house is expected in the ‘Stadium of Light' and supporters are being urged to buy their tickets in advance of the 7.45pm kick-off.
For Pats' manager Liam Buckley, last week's result against Široki did not reflect the dominant display his side produced, and when talking to stpatsfc.com he was keen to stress that his side still were in a good position going into the second leg.
“I thought we played well last week and were terribly unfortunate not to come away with a win. I certainly didn't see them scoring, especially with a few seconds left when they did eventually equalise and after we'd missed a penalty and two or three good chances, including hitting the post.”
“At 1-1, the game is back in the mix. They had 10 men for most of last week, so they struggled for large parts of the game. However I've no doubt that they see themselves getting through the tie so it's going to be a helter skelter game with a lot at stake for both clubs.”
“But if we perform like we did last week, we'll be right in the tie. We have the away goal and a good defensive record this year, a clean sheet tomorrow and we're through. So hopefully we can get through and play Hannover 96 next week.”
With Mark Rossiter looking likely to miss out on the rest of the season through a knee injury, Buckley reported that Stephen O'Flynn is the only injury worry ahead of Thursday's game with a muscle injury.
For Široki, skipper and former Bosnia and Herzegovina international Dalibor Šilić returns from suspension while contrastly, defender Mladen Jurčević serves a one match ban having been sent off for two bookable offences last week.
With 2 goals in his last 2 European games for the Saints, and 3 in his last 3 including his previous spell at Bohemians, Saint's striker Christy Fagan is only two goals away from equaling the record of Declan ‘Fabio' O'Brien of 4 goals in 4 games set during the Saints' 2009 European run.
The striker expressed his excitement ahead of the game, while also admitting that O'Brien's record was something he was aware of.
“Yeah I'm really looking to tomorrow's game. We've left ourselves in a good position ahead of what'll be a massive game, hopefully we'll get a good turnout and support and obviously put on another good performance. I heard about Fabio's record over in Bosnia, one of the fans told me. It's not something that is going to be on mind, but hopefully I score on Thursday and we get the result. I don't mind who scores so long as we get through.”
