“We have lots of technical ability in the team”– Buckley

“We have lots of technical ability in the team”– Buckley

ST PATRICK’S Athletic manager Liam Buckley is confident the balance his team now enjoys will see them prove a lot more competitive in this year’s Airtricity League title race.

The Inchicore side had to settle for a disappointing seventh place finish in last year’s campaign, conse-quently missing out on European football.

liam buckley

Yet Buckley has added some real quality to his set-up over recent weeks with the likes of former Bohemians striker Kurtis Byrne, ex-Sligo Rovers defender Gavin Peers and former Shamrock Rovers pair midfielder Paddy Cregg and goalkeeper Barry Murphy putting pen to paper for the club.

Now as they prepare to open their new campaign against Bray Wanderers in Richmond Park this Friday, Buckley will be hoping that the new arrivals have gelled sufficiently in pre-season.

 “I’m very happy with the signings that we’ve made” he told The Echo. “I feel we’ve got some good young lads in there, along with some experienced players.

“When you look a some of the goals Kurtis [Byrne] has scored in recent years, and with Bohs last year, they’re very Chris Forrester-esqe. He’s got great feet in relation to scoring.

“Paddy Cregg I’ve tried to sign before. He’s got a great understanding of what is expected from his role as a defensive midfielder and he’s a good talker.

“I had Barry Murphy before. He’s a very experienced keeper and I wanted to keep him, but unfortunately we lost him to Shamrock Rovers. He was ‘Player of the Year’ there a couple of times and we are just pleased to have him back.

“Gavin Peers won the league and cup with Sligo. For young players like Lee Desmond and Rory Feely it’s good to have a player of his experience in there in defence with them.

“Alex O’Hanlon is back from Liverpool and is a good young player and we have other good young players like Sam Verdon and JJ Lunney coming through.

“Throw in the likes of Christy Fagan, Conan Byrne and Ian Bermingham and you have a very balanced side. The task now is to try and just get them to gel.

“We have to bed in these new players but I feel we have lots of technical ability in the team” he stressed.

And Buckley will be hoping that technical ability will be on show in Inchicore tomorrow as they look for a repeat of the clinical demolition of Bray they produced when they met in the Leinster Senior Cup earlier in the year.

Indeed on that occasion they served up a 4-0 win in the Carlisle Grounds with Christy Fagan twice on the mark while Bermingham and O’Hanlon both got in on the act.

Yet Buckley believes the Seagulls will provide a stiffer test this time around especially having garnered some experienced players in the off season.

“Bray have brought in good players like Gary McCabe from Rovers and Aaron Greene so they’ve thrown a few bob at it to try and get them up to one of the European spots.

“When we met them in the Leinster Senior Cup and beat them 4-0, we did play well, but Harry [Kenny] won’t really take too much from that.

“It was a pre-season game albeit a month into pre-season and it doesn’t really matter now. It’s all about who wins this league game on Friday” he stressed.

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