League Preview: Athlone Town -v- Shelbourne

ATHLONE TOWN

Athlone Town host Shelbourne on Friday night in Lissywollen seeking just their second league win of the season (kick-off 7.45pm).

Bottom of the table Athlone have endured a rough time off the field recently and last week things on the field, which were already bleak enough, took a turn for the worse as they were on the end of a 5-1 defeat to Cabinteely in Stradbrook.

That the victory allowed Cabo to come off the foot of the First Division at the expense of Athlone was bad enough. That it was just the Dubliners' second win of the campaign compounded its significance.

The fact that Athlone are the only side Cabo have beaten this season makes it worse again. And seeing as Athlone's solitary league win in 2016 came against none other than Cabinteely, fans of the Midlanders could be forgiven for thinking that the rest of this campaign is going to pass by as joyfully as having teeth pulled in the dentist without anesthetic.

The margin of victory for Cabo could have been much larger seeing as Joe Doyle had bagged himself a hat-trickwith just under eight minutes played in the game. It was the Dun Laoghaire side's largest ever win in the League of Ireland, but it came against what is effectively a brand new Athlone side.

With 24 new players in – and just four of the original squad remaining – the management team of Colin Fortune and Mick Dolan were always going to encounter some teething problems, particularly around figuring out what their strongest side is. And, as bizarre as this may sound, the manner of the defeat to Cabinteely could well be a blessing in disguise.

Those players will not want to suffer such a loss again. The week before, in this squad's first competitive match together, they were beaten 2-0 at home by Cobh Ramblers, not a totally discouraging outcome. Fortune and Dolan will tell their players that last week was a freak result and it is an experience which could well stand to them.

Athlone have no injuries or suspensions ahead of the game, though they are poised to announce a further two signings just as soon as FAI clearance comes through.

SHELBOURNE

Shelbourne come into this game on the crest of a wave following the appointment of Owen Heary to the Tolka Park hot-seat. Last week's 2-0 home victory over Cobh Ramblers in Heary's first game in charge put an end to a run of three successive defeats.

Reds fans now find themselves looking up the table at the promotion play-off spots once again, the win over Cobh putting them within four points of the Cork side and five of UCD who occupy third place.

Heary, however, was keen to stress the importance of stringing victories together from now on – Shels have won six, drawn one and lost eight of their 15 league games to date.

“That’s the one thing that we said tonight going into the game. We can’t draw games really, we can’t lose games – we have to win to try get back into the promotion race and that win [against Cobh] puts us back in a little bit closer,” the new Shels boss told assembled media last week.

“We are not too far off them, but [if] you go out next week and you draw, then you’re right back down again so it’s important that we try maintain the discipline, the focus and the desire into the next game.

“It's a challenge and one myself and Liam [Kelly] is looking forward to. We are going to be playing the teams that are looking for promotion as well,” Heary continued.

“So for us, we’ll enjoy tonight, but then we get back down to business on Monday and start training again for the next game, making sure that we have our tactics right and try win that game.

“If we can get a little bit of momentum and if we can get a few wins under our belt, we’ll see where we are with five/six games to go and hopefully we’ll be there or thereabouts.”

Referee: Ben Connolly.

MATCH STATS

Only six of the last 29 matches between the sides between 1994 and 2016 have ended in draws. Athlone have managed to win just four of those games, with Shelbourne winning the other 19.

Only three of those six draws from the same time frame have ended goalless. The last time this occurred was in April 2010 in Lissywollen. David Cassidy, most recently of Athlone, played for Shelbourne that day.

Shelbourne have scored 58 goals to Athlone's 28 between 1994 and 2016, an average of three goals per game.

BETTING

Athlone Town 16/1; Draw 11/2; Shelbourne 1/8.

PREDICTION

Athlone Town 0-2 Shelbourne.

Athlone Town

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

Shelbourne

Injured: Unknown.

Doubtful: Unknown.

Suspended: None.