Buckley anticipates tight finish at the top of the Premier Division

St. Patrick's Athletic boss Liam Buckley believes the gap between last year's top five has closed over the off-season – with one of the tightest campaigns at the top end of the table in recent years to come in 2015.

Last season, the gap between champions Dundalk and fourth placed Shamrock Rovers was twelve points. Sligo Rovers finished fifth, a distant 19 points off Pat Fenlon's side, but Buckley believes the Bit O'Red will come right back into European contention following the appointment to the hotseat of former Bohemians manager Owen Heary.

Five teams into three European spots doesn't go, so unless one of the five qualifies for the Europa League by winning the FAI Cup – like the Saints did last season, thereby passing the Europa League place they earned in the league over to fourth-placed Shamrock Rovers – somebody will miss out. And Buckley believes very little will ultimately separate third place from fourth and fifth.

“Cork will be competitive. Dundalk will be competitive. Shamrock Rovers will be competitive, Sligo will be competitive, and ourselves. I think those five clubs are probably better resourced than your Longford, Drogheda, Galway and the other clubs in the Division. On that basis, there won't be a hell of a lot between the five of us,” Buckley told Extratime.ie at the 2015 SSE Airtricity League launch at the Aviva Stadium last Friday.

“I can see Sligo taking points off of all those other four, and I can see everybody else taking points off them and off each other, including us, so it augurs for a really tough, tight campaign. I could be wrong, but I would've thought those five would all have ambitions to be certainly fighting for a spot in Europe in either first, second or third.”

The biggest loss suffered by the Saints in the off-season was Keith Fahey, who swapped Pat's and Inchicore for Shamrock Rovers and Tallaght. Fate almost dictated that Fahey would face his former teammates in the first game of the new Premier Division season at Tallaght Stadium on Friday - but the Republic of Ireland midfielder is set serve a one game suspension for accumulating four yellow cards carried over from last season. 

Despite losing Fahey to one of their rivals, Buckley believes the additions he has made, along with retaining key members of last year's side, have strengthened his squad overall and will ensure that the Saints can challenge on all fronts in 2015.

“We were in the mix last year and we've held onto the bulk of the group,” said Buckley. “I'd like to think that bringing in the likes of [Jason] McGuinness, [Ciaran] Kilduff, young [Lee] Desmond and Conor O'Malley, the goalkeeper, will add to the group that we have in a dynamic point of view. But even from a playing perspective, I could see all of them in the starting team, so they'll certainly strengthen us from that end and I'd like to think we'll be competitive right through the campaign.

“If I could bring in another one, it would help us in relation to the amount of games we have to play,” added Buckley. “We have the league, The FAI Cup, the League Cup, the Setanta Cup, the President's Cup [now completed], the Leinster Senior Cup, the Europa League – that's seven competitions.

“You could play over 50 games and if you don't have a squad of 20-plus players, you won't get through it all, or you'll be undermined in some of those games because of the squad quality. If you're dipping into your U19s, who don't play during the summer months, it can be tricky. So from our point of view, I may add one or two more to the group, we'll see.”

Pat's have some products of the club's under 19 set-up on professional contracts this season, such as Jack Bayly, Jamie McGrath and Sam Verdon. The success last season of another U19 graduate, centre-back Sean Hoare, shows that Buckley isn't afraid to give youth its chance when the need arises. Of Pat's more established players, new signing Ciaran Kilduff will have plenty expected of him in the coming season.

The former Shamrock Rovers and Cork City striker made his competitive debut in Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Dundalk in the President's Cup at Oriel Park as a 73^rd minute substitute for Killian Brennan. With Buckley utilizing Christy Fagan as a loan striker to good effect since signing him from Bohemians in 2012, many are wondering will the Saints boss pair Fagan and Kilduff up front in a break from their regular approach.

“Listen, he [Kilduff] can obviously play up front. If I go two up front, he can jump in there. Even if I go three up front, I can play him in one of the wide berths with a view to playing a winger on the other side,” explained Buckley. “He's particularly strong in the air, he's a big lad and I can see him scoring goals.

“I'm looking forward to working with him, I've tried to sign him a few times over the last few years and fortunately enough we got him this year.”