Mahon ready for Windsor showdown

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Pete Mahon knows that his St Patrick's Athletic team will have to scrap to get anything out of their Setanta Sports Cup clash with Linfield in Windsor Park.

The Saints claimed a 1-1 draw when they played host to David Jeffrey's side two weeks ago and that performance should give them some confidence ahead of the trip to Belfast.

While Linfield have won twice since that meeting in Richmond Park, St Pat's also picked up a win in their first game of the new Airtricity League after they beat Galway United 2-0.

However, this cup clash will be a totally different game as a place in the semi-finals of the All-Ireland competition is at stake and Mahon is determined to progress further in the tournament.

"Going to Windsor Park is a great football occasion. Linfield are a club with a fantastic tradition," said Mahon.

"The two legs give it a real cup-tie atmosphere and I for one am really looking forward to it.

"We showed in the first game that we can match them so we’ll be going up to try and win. If we are to give ourselves any chance of winning, we will need to maintain the performance we gave in the second half at Richmond Park for the whole of the 90 minutes."