St. Patrick’s Athletic -v- Shamrock Rovers
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Third placed Shamrock Rovers travel to Richmond Park on Friday evening to face league leaders St. Patrick’s Athletic in what should be an intriguing Dublin derby.
Both sides come into the game on the back of differing results on Monday. St. Pats defeated Galway United 2-0 while Rovers could only manage a draw against Sligo Rovers.
St. Pats have won six of their opening ten matches and have lost just once, scoring 15 and conceding just two.
Shane Guthrie is Pete Mahon's only doubt for the match.
Goalkeeper Gary Rogers is happy with St. Pat’s start to the season, but knows Rovers will be a difficult side to beat.
“Every game is a big game, especially against [Shamrock] Rovers, it should be a full house, the fact that we beat them 2-0 in Tallaght, they will definitely remember that. It’s going to be a tough game, I’m just hoping we’ll get the right result, we’re at home so we’ll be looking for the win”, Rogers told Extratime.
“There are a lot of teams evenly balanced; four or five teams that you could say will be up at the top of the table. We’re three points ahead but its only one match so it’s hard to know”, he said.
Shamrock Rovers endured a poor start to the season but 12 points from a possible 18 in April have propelled the Tallaght men to third place, and five points off St. Pat’s at the top.
Pat Sullivan (knee), Stephen Bradley (wrist), Craig Sives (calf) Sean O’Connor (hip) and Don Cowan remain sidelined for Shamrock Rovers, while there are also doubts about Chris Turner, who picked up a knock in the match against Sligo on Monday night.
“Pat’s aren’t where they are by accident; they’ve constantly been the best team in the league so far this season. They have a very strong defence, having only conceded two goals to date”. Rovers manager Michael O’Neill said.
“As they are top of the league, they probably go into the game expected to win. But we let ourselves down against them earlier in the season and we want to make up for that this time around.”
Extratime Prediction: 1-1
Both sides come into the game on the back of differing results on Monday. St. Pats defeated Galway United 2-0 while Rovers could only manage a draw against Sligo Rovers.
St. Pats have won six of their opening ten matches and have lost just once, scoring 15 and conceding just two.
Shane Guthrie is Pete Mahon's only doubt for the match.
Goalkeeper Gary Rogers is happy with St. Pat’s start to the season, but knows Rovers will be a difficult side to beat.
“Every game is a big game, especially against [Shamrock] Rovers, it should be a full house, the fact that we beat them 2-0 in Tallaght, they will definitely remember that. It’s going to be a tough game, I’m just hoping we’ll get the right result, we’re at home so we’ll be looking for the win”, Rogers told Extratime.
“There are a lot of teams evenly balanced; four or five teams that you could say will be up at the top of the table. We’re three points ahead but its only one match so it’s hard to know”, he said.
Shamrock Rovers endured a poor start to the season but 12 points from a possible 18 in April have propelled the Tallaght men to third place, and five points off St. Pat’s at the top.
Pat Sullivan (knee), Stephen Bradley (wrist), Craig Sives (calf) Sean O’Connor (hip) and Don Cowan remain sidelined for Shamrock Rovers, while there are also doubts about Chris Turner, who picked up a knock in the match against Sligo on Monday night.
“Pat’s aren’t where they are by accident; they’ve constantly been the best team in the league so far this season. They have a very strong defence, having only conceded two goals to date”. Rovers manager Michael O’Neill said.
“As they are top of the league, they probably go into the game expected to win. But we let ourselves down against them earlier in the season and we want to make up for that this time around.”
Extratime Prediction: 1-1
