General
- Thursday April 8th, 2021 @ 12:00
Preview: Saints Vs Derry (09/04/21)
St Patrick's Athletic are in action again on Friday night as they entertain Derry City at Richmond Park.
The action will get underway at 5.45pm (live on WATCHLOI)
Starters Orders
It has been an action packed start to the season, the Saints have picked up seven points from the opening three games.
Last weekend, a 61st minute Ronan Coughlan header was enough to secure all three points against Bohemians in a Dalymount Park Dublin Derby, his second goal in two games.
That win followed a 2-1 victory over Drogheda United (Ronan Coughlan and Billy King) and a 1-1 draw at Shamrock Rovers (OG)
Alan Mathews' side will be looking to continue their positive start against Derry.
Opposition Watch and Recent Meetings
Derry City have lost their opening two games of the season, their match against Shamrock Rovers was moved due to international call-ups.
Declan Devine's side lost out to Longford Town on the opening night (2-0) and suffered a 2-1 defeat to Waterford FC last week.
The sides met twice last year, with Derry City winning 2-0 at Richmond before a 0-0 draw in the return fixture at the Ryan McBride Brandywell in September.
This fixture is fondly remembered by Lee Desmond, he scored this cracker in 2019
O'Donnell and Coughlan's Views
Head Coach Stephen O'Donnell is under no illusions of how tough the game will be on Friday:
"I watched the Derry game against Waterford last weekend. They were by far the most dominant team, possession and chances wise. On any other given week, they definitely would have gotten something from the game, so we are under no illusions. It's going to be a very tough game and Derry have a lot of very good players, so we are going to have to play very well to get anything from the game and we know that."
Ronan Coughlan headed the winner at Dalymount last time out, making it two goals in two games for The Saints and the 24-year-old has settled well into life as a Saint.
He was on media duty for our virtual press conference this week to look ahead to the game:
"We are looking forward to it. It's such a small league, and there is not much between a lot of the teams. Anyone can beat anyone on a given day and I think this league will be much tighter this year. We are under no illusions about how Derry will come to Richmond. They will want to get a win and get back on track. It won't be an easy game anyway to say the least and I would pay no heed to their previous results. They'll want to get back on track and so we are definitely up for a tough game."
Watch the best bits from Stephen and Ronan's press conference on our Youtube channel below.
The lads spoke about the start to the season, goals and Friday's clash with Derry City.
Team news: Shane Griffin (shoulder) & Cian Kelly (foot) will both miss the game
Match programme: You can download a copy of The Saint from our website from noon on Friday
Where can you watch the game: The game will be live on WATCHLOI, with kick-off at 5.45pm. Hugh Cahill and Ger O'Brien will be in the commentary box.
Updates: You can catch updates across all of our social media channels, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Photo credit: Inpho Sports
