Shane Keegan: 'The number one target is to stay in the Premier Division'

Galway United manager Shane Keegan has described the sense of excitement building in the region ahead of the new Premier Division campaign.

"There seems to be a great buzz about Galway United building and we would be hoping to get a really good crowd in for thefirst day of the season and hopefully also for the first couple of games,” Keegan told extratime.ie.

"It will then be up to ourselves to play well, put in good performances. Hopefully by doing that they will keep on coming back.

"There seems to be great talk about the club around the area. We have an initiative at the club which has seen me get out to pretty much every junior club in the league, just to introduce myself and talk a little about Galway United.

"The aim is to integrate the club into the community a little bit more and that has been brilliant. We have been accepted into all of the clubs."

Keegan is about to embark on his first campaign in Galway, after moving from Wexford Youths, whom he guided to promotion to the Premier Division during his tenure.

Their first game of the 2017 season is on Friday week against Drogheda United, whos win in the promotion/relegation play-off sent Youths back to the second tier.

"The number one target is to still be in the division. With the three going down, if we can try to get as far away as possible from the danger zone and ensure safety over the first third or half of the season, then you can talk about maybe finish a little bit higher.

"We have played five pre season games so far, winning four of them, so we are quite happy on that front.

"The performances seem to be getting closer and closer to what we require with each game. The fitness levels have been particularly impressive, so we are happy with that side of things.

"Things are shaping up quite well ahead of the new season, so I am happy with where we are at now.”