The Bit O’ Red travel to Dublin for our first away game of the season tomorrow night (Friday) as we take on UCD at The UCD Bowl at 7.45pm.

Both sides earned a point on the opening day of the season with Rovers drawing 1-1 with Shamrock Rovers at The Showgrounds on Saturday evening while the Students earned their point in Oriel Park against Dundalk on the same scoreline.

Manager John Russell was pleased with his sides performance and knows there are still areas to work on:

‘’We were happy to come away with a positive result last weekend against Shamrock Rovers.

‘’I know we left it late but, I felt a draw was a fair result on the night.

‘’This is a new group and, we understand it will take time to gel everyone together.

‘’We’ve reviewed last-week’s game and there are definitely areas where we can improve.

The Bit O’ Red boss is wary of the threat UCD can cause his side tomorrow night and knows his side needs a strong performance against the Dubliners:

‘’This weekend’s game against UCD will be another tough test. They had an excellent result and performance against Dundalk in their opening game.

‘’We only managed to beat UCD once last season. I know some of their players have moved on but, they always seem to have another batch of talented young players coming through.

‘’We will have to be at our best to get something from the game’’.

The last times the sides met, Rovers ran out 2-0 winners at the same venue last October.

In team news, Niall Morahan continues to recover from an ankle injury picked up in pre-season and should return to the squad. Bogdan Vastsuk is nursing a minor hamstring problem and will be assessed tomorrow while goalkeeper Conor Walsh, who picked up an ankle injury in training last week, is a doubt.

Long term absentees Mark Byrne, Garry Buckley and Gary Boylan remain sidelined.

It is the first away game of the 2023 season and a large support is expected to travel to the game and it’s the first chance for our Dublin based supporters to see the Bit O’ Red in action this season.

The game is Live on LOI TV from 7.45pm and supporters can purchase season passes now on loitv.ie

The game is the start of back to back away games as we visit Drogheda United next Friday night before a double header at home against St. Patrick’s Athletic and Cork City.