Sligo Rovers take on Shelbourne in The SSE Airtricity Premier Division on Friday night at The Showgrounds which marks the start of the first game of three home games in eight days.
There was no game last weekend due to the International break but Liam Buckley got some extra work into the group on the training ground and the squad will be eager to keep the unbeaten start to the season going on Friday night.
‘We are happy with the start of the season in terms of being unbeaten so far. We have played well at times and there is a bit of strength in depth which has helped us and the lads are all eager to take part and play and do well which is great. We know that there is room for improvement also and we have worked on a few things in the last couple of weeks to help with that.
The lads have all gelled well as a group and the new lads have settled into the town fairly well and that helps them perform on the pitch. We have an honest group who all want to do well for each other and the club and with the fans behind us Friday night we hope to get a positive result. It will be a tough week or so with three games but we’ll use the full squad and see how we go.
Shelbourne are a new team and have had some good performances so far this season. Like a lot of teams including ourselves there are a lot of new faces and no doubt they’ll be looking to bounce back from their previous game against Finn Harps so we are well aware of the threats they’ll bring. They have a good young manager in Damien Duff and they’ll have a good travelling support so it will be a decent game for the fans.”
In team news, Liam has no fresh injury concerns and Nando Pijnaker has returned to Sligo to join up with the squad. There are no suspensions.
Turnstiles open at 6.30pm and we ask supporters to arrive early and to respect the local area when parking their cars.
Last three: Sligo Rovers:
Shamrock Rovers (Drew 2-2), Finn Harps (Won 3-1), Drogheda United (Won 3-0)
Last three: Shelbourne:
Finn Harps (Lost 3-0), Bohemians (Drew 1-1), Dundalk (Drew 1-1)