ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC’S Chris Forrester reckons they can push title contenders Dundalk and Cork City right to the end of the season after putting their poor form behind them.
Beaten by Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk (twice) and Bray Wanderers already, the Saints also dropped points to Longford Town, Cork and Drogheda, which has led to many writing off the 2013 champions.
However, Liam Buckley’s side strung together three league victories on the trot plus a win over the Hoops in the FAI Cup before the mid-season break.
Forrester admits the return of last season’s PFAI Player of the Year Christy Fagan, back scoring goals after a knee injury kept him out for six weeks, could be the difference and he believes they are back on track ahead of tonight’s visit of Longford Town to Richmond Park.
Advertisement
“We had won four games before the break and we knocked Shamrock Rovers out of the cup so confidence is really high,” Forrester said yesterday. “A couple of games didn’t go our way but that gave us the kick up the ass that we needed and we’ve kicked into gear.
“Maybe it was down to Christy Fagan being out. A lot of the lads there have played with him for the last three or four years and we have a certain style of playing. Liam likes to play by design, get the ball into the striker with people playing off him and Christy is the best at that in the league.
“Maybe it was down to that, maybe decisions were not going our way. We had a lot of red cards as well, silly decisions and silly tackles.”
Forrester launching the new Adidas ACE boot yesterday. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
With 17 games played Pat’s are ten points adrift of the reigning champions and league leaders in fourth position. That is significant lost ground to make up, but Forrester is optimistic that it is achievable.
For me personally, it (the title race) was never off,” he says. “I always wanted to win the league, no matter how far ahead of us they were I wanted us to fight, until the end of the season.
“It was all doom and gloom, there was a lot of people talking about how bad Pat’s were and that sort of thing but now they are back talking about how good we are again and that’s how it goes over a few games.
“We will fight them until the end of the season and push them as hard as we can. That’s always been our plan.”
Chris Forrester launched the new Adidas range of ACE and X football boots in Dublin yesterday. They will be available from Life Style Sports nationwide from 1 July and can be pre-ordered from www.lifestylesports.com
'It was all doom and gloom. But we got the kick up the arse we needed'
ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC’S Chris Forrester reckons they can push title contenders Dundalk and Cork City right to the end of the season after putting their poor form behind them.
Beaten by Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk (twice) and Bray Wanderers already, the Saints also dropped points to Longford Town, Cork and Drogheda, which has led to many writing off the 2013 champions.
However, Liam Buckley’s side strung together three league victories on the trot plus a win over the Hoops in the FAI Cup before the mid-season break.
Forrester admits the return of last season’s PFAI Player of the Year Christy Fagan, back scoring goals after a knee injury kept him out for six weeks, could be the difference and he believes they are back on track ahead of tonight’s visit of Longford Town to Richmond Park.
“We had won four games before the break and we knocked Shamrock Rovers out of the cup so confidence is really high,” Forrester said yesterday. “A couple of games didn’t go our way but that gave us the kick up the ass that we needed and we’ve kicked into gear.
“Maybe it was down to Christy Fagan being out. A lot of the lads there have played with him for the last three or four years and we have a certain style of playing. Liam likes to play by design, get the ball into the striker with people playing off him and Christy is the best at that in the league.
“Maybe it was down to that, maybe decisions were not going our way. We had a lot of red cards as well, silly decisions and silly tackles.”
With 17 games played Pat’s are ten points adrift of the reigning champions and league leaders in fourth position. That is significant lost ground to make up, but Forrester is optimistic that it is achievable.
“It was all doom and gloom, there was a lot of people talking about how bad Pat’s were and that sort of thing but now they are back talking about how good we are again and that’s how it goes over a few games.
“We will fight them until the end of the season and push them as hard as we can. That’s always been our plan.”
Chris Forrester launched the new Adidas range of ACE and X football boots in Dublin yesterday. They will be available from Life Style Sports nationwide from 1 July and can be pre-ordered from www.lifestylesports.com
Originally published at 06.30
5 things we’re looking forward to seeing during the second-half of the League of Ireland season
Newcastle United are after an Irish defender and the rest of today’s best transfer news
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Chris Forrester SSE Airtricity League Premier Division League of Ireland LOI St Patrick's Upbeat