Turner - No Reasons To Be Fearful

Limerick winger Ian Turner sees no reason why his side cannot “cause a few upsets” in the coming season, with manager Martin Russell instilling “a hard work ethic and self-belief” within the squad.
 

The former Cork City man was among those successful from the spot against his old club last weekend as the Shannonsiders eliminated them from the Munster Senior Cup in a penalty shootout, a result that surprised many outside the camp.
 

That was the 25-year-old’s first ever outing against his hometown team and it means he will enjoy a final in his first full season with Limerick having spent the second half of last year on-loan from Leeside.
 

Turner made 15 appearances, scoring two goals, as Russell’s side made a late charge into the top half of the Premier Division table. And while the squad is much changed since then, he believes they can achieve a lot once their attitude is right.
 

“Everyone is looking forward to it now at this stage. It’s what keeps you going through pre-season and it’s what you work hard for,” Turner told LimerickFC.ie ahead of Saturday’s visit of Bohemians to Jackman Park (6.30pm).

“Pre-season has gone really well. We haven’t had the biggest squad so it has been more individual stuff as well as team stuff so it was good. I think everyone has got to a certain level now where we’re ready to go, we’re match-fit and we’re now looking forward to it.

“I think Cobh (friendly) and Cork were probably the two most competitive games we had, and although we didn’t get the result down in Cobh it was a good workout. Then to be able to maintain a high level against Cork through extra-time and come out with a good result was really good for us.

“People can say what they want but we have our own agenda inside the camp. We know what we’re about and we know how good we are. If people are surprised by us then long may it continue.

“We quietly believed that we were going to be able to beat Cork. I’m sure nobody else thought that we would be able to but once we have a good team spirit, we’re together and we work hard for each other, we’ll be able to go very far.

“I think for us this year it’s a case of take each game as it comes. We’re able obviously to raise our game against Cork so we have to make sure we’re able to do that every week.

“Bohs is the first game that’s in front of us and we have to apply ourselves and work as hard as we did against Cork.”

On his target for the season ahead, Ian added: “It’s hard to say because we do have a young squad and a small squad. But I think for us to better last year would be a minimum aim that you would look for.

“Obviously each individual then will have their personal goals and personal targets that they set. I think it’s mainly to do better than what we did last year.

“It’s important to get a good start. I know I wasn’t here at the start of last year but I don’t think they got the best start. It’s important for us to take each game as it comes and make sure we get a good start.

“There is nobody in our team that doesn’t think we’re going to do well. If other people have high or low expectations about it, we’re not really worried about that. It’s about what we expect of ourselves.

“Martin has instilled this self-belief and this hard work ethic about us. There is no reason why we can’t give ourselves high expectations and achieve those.

“You look at Dundalk last year, an extremely hard-working, physical, together team. Drogheda did it a couple of years ago when nobody expected them to do well. They finished second in the league with players that people didn’t say were the best in the league or whatever.

“I don’t see any reason why we can’t raise our standards this year. Like I said, we’ll have our own self-belief and our own personal goals in the squad. There is no reason why we can’t compete with the other teams.”

Limerick will temporarily play their home games at Jackman Park before moving to the Markets Field, having switched away from the 25,000-capacity Thomond Park. But Turner insists the surroundings will not matter to the players.

“I don’t think it makes any difference to us, really,” he said. “Whether we’re playing in a field down the road or we’re playing in Old Trafford, our preparation still has to be the same.

“We still have to apply ourselves as well as we can. I don’t think the glamour of Thomond Park will be there anymore obviously in Jackman, but we just have to focus on ourselves.

“If we work hard and play as well as we can I don’t see why we can’t cause a few upsets this year.”