Andy Myler expecting a stiff test as the Students host Athlone Town at the UCD Bowl

UCD boss Andy Myler admits he is expecting a difficult encounter against Athlone Town as his side look to maintain their playoff charge on Friday evening.

The Students come into the game comfortably ahead of Athlone in the league standings, but they will be aware that a win for Adrian Carberry’s side will close that gap very quickly.

And as a result, the UCD boss is well aware of the challenge posed to his side by the Co. Westmeath outfit.

“All of the [games] are going to be tough,” Myler said. “There are still a lot of teams pushing for the playoff places.

“Athlone will be trying to get back into it and that won’t stop for the next 8 or 9 weeks. We just have to be at it again.

“We have to play as well or better than we did against Shelbourne. We need to be better in front of goal and be as good as we were in defence.

“That’s what we’ll be looking to do. We’ll be looking for repeat performances.”

Last week saw the Students take on a Covid-19 hit Shelbourne in a game where they were left frustrated as Shels came away with a point.

And Myler rued some missed opportunities for his side on that occasion.

“Shels probably had the better of the second-half, but we had the better chances overall in the game.



“We probably let it slip a little bit from that point of view. I’m happy enough with the performance, but you won’t win every game, and that was one of those nights.”

But overall, it was another clean sheet for UCD who have stopped the flow of goals going in against them in the last couple of weeks.

“We needed to stop conceding goals, and we’ve stopped conceding goals,” Myler adds.

“We just need to concentrate on keep doing what we were doing before and that is creating opportunities.

“We did that again. But once again I am happy with the performances, and I have been with the last couple of weeks.”

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