Liam Buckley predicts a 'big impact' from youngster Jamie Lennon

Liam Buckley says Jamie Lennon will make a 'big impact' for St. Patrick's Athletic this season after a man-of-the-match display in just his second senior game for the club.

The 19-year-old commanded the midfield during the Saints' 1-0 victory over Limerick, showing off his passing ability, composure, and toughness at the heart of a dominant Pats' performance against a tired Blues side that the scoreline did not compliment.

Buckley sees Lennon, alongside fellow youthful midfielders James Doona and Darragh Markey as the future of the club, and predicts the former Shelbourne youth player will have a big part to play during the course of this season.

“Jamie Lennon, he's a top player,” Buckley told extratime.ie.

“He's a really good range of passing, which we probably didn't see as well tonight as he can do, but that's his biggest strength.

“I've no doubt once everybody is singing off the same hymnsheet that passing range will come into play, and people will understand how good he is at that.

“I do think he'll make a big impact. He's been with us since under-19 level. He's really clever. He's got range of passing, a couple came off his boot tonight but we'll put that down to experience.

“James Doona I'm pleased with. He's had a decent performance here tonight.

“It's his first start, Jamie Lennon's second start, Darragh Markey as well, they're all young kids only 20 years of age, if even 20 – please God they keep moving forward and they'll be the future for us.”

An Ian Bermingham header in the 56^th minute was enough for the Inchicore club to take all three points on the night, and Buckley feels it was a deserved victory on the balance of play.

“The game was a little better quality in the second half,” he said.

“The first half tomight both teams competed quite well. I thought in the second half we did create the better chances, we had chances to bag a second or a third goal and if you do, it's a different game.

“It was only one last year, sure, Limerick, in the 94^th minute bagged a wondergoal and put us in serious trouble last year, but we're moving along well.”

The win left Pat's fifth in the table, within touching distance of the European places albeit in a very congested middle of the table, and the 57-year-old does not envision that changingduring the course of the campaign.

While Buckley hopes, and certainly wants, this season to pan out better than the last campaign, he gave no certainties on where he expects his side to end up come season's end.

“Obviously it wasn't enjoyable last year,” he remembered.

“We were scrapping for points, obviously when we played Limerick, 94^th and a half minute, Clarkey kicked it, bing, bonk, stuck in the top corner, and that meant Limerick were now the safe ones and we were in trouble.

“That was for a draw, just meant they would have been the ones having to worry instead of us. I don't want us looking back down. At the minute now, we're fifth, there's only seven games gone, we'd prefer to be looking that way.

“We played Dundalk, done okay down here, markedly better in the second half. They'll be competing for certain in the top four

“Cork will be competing and honest to God how they beat us here is beyond me. It was a travesty, 0-0, they had a man sent off, hadn't a shot on target at all in the second half, got a corner down the far end, kicked it in and Barry slipped – you couldn't have made it up.

“But Cork will be up there, that's two of the four spots, then after that is there a lot between the rest? Probably not.

“It wouldn't surprise me if anybody jumped in there – Derry look decent, Bohs look decent, we'll be decent, wasn't a lot between us and Limerick. Sligo are decent too.”

Buckley also gave an injury update on stricken midfielder Killian Brennan, who returned to training this week after missing the start of the season with a leg injury.

“Killian chipped a bone in his knee,” said Buckley.

“He was in pre-season for a week, done that, and hasn't trained up until a week ago.

“I wasn't going to just chuck him in, even off the bench he could pick up a different injury.

“This is a tough league, that's why we do six weeks of a programme in pre-season to make sure we're fit enough.

“We've slowly worked with him on a different training programme, in relation to what we can do with him, trying to take the pressure off the injury.

“I'd think maybe another couple of week he'll need, we'll probably consider him at that stage – Derry might be a bit early for him.”