League Preview: Derry City -v- St. Patrick's Athletic

• Mark Quinlan
• Fri, Aug 05 2016



High flying Derry City will entertain the visit of St. Patrick’s Athletic in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division in a potentially mouth-watering clash at the Brandywell on Friday night (kick-off 7.45pm).
 
DERRY CITY
 
Derry City will be aiming to get their season back on track after their shock exit in the EA Sports Cup semi-final at the hands of all-conquering Limerick FC last Monday night. This will be the Candystripes third match in a week and attempt to register their first win having been left frustrated at the Showgrounds by a plucky Sligo Rovers performance who held out for a 0-0 draw last Friday evening.
 
Derry City boss Kenny Shiels is aware of the threat posed by the Dublin side and is not taking the game for granted telling www.derrycityfc.net, “You can’t overlook the fact that they have a really good team, their league position doesn’t justify the quality that they have.”
 
Shiels also was keen to stress that preparation is the key to getting a positive result, stating, “They are a good team we know that and we know that we are going to be in for a big game, so let’s make sure we are ready for that.”
 
The Candystripes have a few injury concerns going into tomorrow evening’s match and Derry boss Shiels was keen to point out there may be opportunities for others to impress, saying to www.derrycityfc.net, “We have got niggles, strains and injuries, but it gives someone else a chance to come in and bed themselves into the team.”
 
ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic have the unenviable task of travelling to the Brandywell to face a wounded Derry City side in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division in what has the hallmarks of a fascinating contest. St. Pat’s will be striving to make it two wins on the bounce after a morale boosting 1-0 away win over Wexford Youths last Monday evening. The win was their first game in three weeks having had their previous two home matches postponed and ended a horrid streak of four straight league defeats
 
St.Pat’s boss Liam Buckley was relieved to see his side return to winning ways after a long run without a win talking to www.stpatsfc.com, Buckley said, “It was good to get back to domestic action on Monday as with postponements and our European run, we were inactive for a while so both players and management were itching to get out onto the pitch. Monday was a great win for us as we had to hold off some strong pressure from Wexford at the end.”
 
Pat’s boss Buckley is expecting a tough battle and knows that his side will have to be at the top of their game to come away from the North with anything, saying, “We know we have to be more clinical in front of goal as we’re creating chances but not taking enough of them. We’ve tried to recover since Monday as best as possible and work on a few little things ahead of facing Derry, who we know will give us a very difficult game on Friday night.”
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic have no injury worries ahead of the match and boss Liam Buckley has a full fit squad from which to choose from.
 
Referee: Paul Tuite.
 
MATCH STATS
Derry City are currently sitting in 3rd place in the SSE Premier Division with 38 points from their 20 league matches with 11 wins, 5 draws and 4 defeats.
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic are in 6th place in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division with 26 points from their 19 league games with 8 wins, 2 draws and 9 defeats.
 
Derry City are unbeaten in their last 3 league games with two wins and a draw while St. Patrick’s Athletic have won just one of their last 5 league games having lost 4 matches in a row.
 
The head to head league record since 2003 shows there’s little to choose between the sides with Derry City managing 12 wins to St. Patrick’s Athletic’s 14 with 15 draws in their 41 encounters.
 
 
BETTING
Derry City 10/11 Draw 9/4 St. Patrick’s Athletic 16/5.
 
 
PREDICTION
Derry City 2-1 St. Patrick’s Athletic.
 
 
Derry City
Injuries: NA.
Doubtful: NA.
Suspended: NA.
 
St. Patrick’s Athletic
Injuries: None.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None,