General
- Friday September 6th, 2013 @ 17:54
Limerick-Saints Team News
The Saints make the journey south to Thomond Park on Saturday to face Limerick as they look to open up a five point gap at the top of the Airtricity League (kick-off 7.45pm).
Following last Tuesday's 1-0 win in the Brandywell against Derry City, the Saints returned to top spot ahead of Dundalk with only seven games remaining.
The Saints will be hoping to repeat previous league performance's against Limerick this Saturday having recorded a 1-0 win against the Shannonsiders last April and running out 3-0 winners in Inchicore in June.
For Saints' skipper Conor Kenna, Tuesday's win was a massive boost to the side off the back of a 1-1 home draw with Bohemians. To return to winning ways and reach a landmark of 100 league appearances of the Saints, Kenna was thrilled on several levels with last Tuesday night's game and he admitted that the focus was now on the end goal for the side.
“Derry is always a hard place to go to so to get a win there was great, especially after the draw with Bohs,” Kenna told stpatsfc.com. “To get the three points, and a clean sheet, all the lads were buzzing. We're back top of the league now, but we just want to push on now and win it.”
“Limerick are a great side and they are capable of beating anyone on their day. It'll be another tough game for us, but we'll head south and try and get the win.”
In team news, the Saints are without the services of Stephen Maher who suffered a leg break in Derry on Tuesday. Liam Buckley is hopeful of having the services of John Russell for Saturday's game, however his fitness will be assessed closer to kick-off.
Buckley admitted to stpatsfc.com that the win in Derry was most welcome, however he added that his players would have to put in a repeat performance against Limerick on Saturday.
“It's great that the team are back at the top and listen, we're delighted that we're there and in the mix. We've got this game on Saturday, Rovers in the cup after that and play Dundalk in the league the week after. So look it, there'll be no easy games left this season,” Buckley said.
“Limerick never gave us anything easy earlier in the season, so we are expecting the same on Saturday. Thomond Park is a great stadium to play in and both the team and the fans loved the experience the last time. If we can play well on Saturday, hopefully we'll get another positive result and give our supporters something to be happy with again.”
