League Preview: St Patrick's Athletic -v- Shelbourne

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

St Patrick’s Athletic will be eyeing a return to winning ways on Saturday evening when they take on Shelbourne at Richmond Park (kick-off is at 7.30pm).

Stephen O’Donnell’s Saints have struggled for goals in recent weeks – and they will be hoping to overturn that wretched run this evening.

Their last set of goals came in the two-nil win over Finn Harps on August 7^th, with Dundalk loanee Georgie Kelly netting both for the Saints on that occasion.

The Athletic – as a result – have now found themselves just a place below Shelbourne in the league table.

They now also just four points ahead of Finn Harps who are in 9^th position – and are five ahead of Cork City who are bottom.

Pats have scored the joint-least amount of goals in both the Premier and First Division’s this season – and will have to make do without midfielder Jamie Lennon tomorrow evening.

The midfielder is due to miss out on the Dublin Derby with suspension after he picked up five yellow cards in recent weeks.  

However, despite the gloom, the Saints may potentially find themselves just a point outside the European positions with a win on Saturday evening.

SHELBOURNE

Shelbourne will be hoping to plunge Dublin rivals St Patrick’s Athletic into the relegation mire this weekend when they take on the Saints at Richmond Park.

Should the Reds defeat the Athletic on Saturday evening, they could potentially move to within a point of the European positions.

And despite the game being behind closed doors once more, Shels boss Ian Morris believes his side will rise to the occasion regardless.

“You don’t get the noise levels with three or four thousand there but there’s a lot of pride at stake and we won’t let the players forget. They’ll be full of energy,” he told his club’s media team.

“It’s huge. Whoever wins goes up in the rankings and then whoever loses is in the bottom three so there’s no getting away from it,” he added.

“It’s a big weekend for the league with the bottom two playing eachother but we also know that the rewards are there for us too,” he said. 

The Shels boss said he is “expecting Pats are their best” and is “under no illusions” as to their strength.

“Pats are a full-time team and they’re in a bit of a false position. They’ll be putting out a really strong eleven,” he added. 

Shels have no injury concerns going to Saturday night’s game but they will be without defender Luke Byrne who misses out through suspension.

Referee: Robert Hennessy.

MATCH STATS

St Patrick’s Athletic have failed to score in their previous five league games – with their last set of league goals coming in their two-nil home league win over Finn Harps in August.

Shelbourne have won twice since the League of Ireland restart, but they have only lost once in their previous six games in all competitions.

Stephen O’Donnell’s Saints have scored just six league goals all season this year, but they have only conceded ten goals in their twelve league outings.

BETTING

St Patrick’s Athletic 8/11; Draw 23/10; Shelbourne 7/2.

PREDICTION

St Patrick’s Athletic 0 - 2 Shelbourne

St Patrick’s Athletic

Injured: N/A.

Doubtful: N/A.

Suspended: Jamie Lennon.

Shelbourne

Injured: None.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: Luke Byrne.