Conan Byrne: 'It's not like the full-time whistle goes and everything is hunky dory until the following Friday'

St Patrick's Athletic winger Conan Byrne admits he's had to draw on all of his experience as the Saints have endured their shakiest season since Liam Buckley took over in 2012.

Speaking to the extratime.ie Sportscast, which will be broadcast on Monday night, Byrne paid tribute to Buckley for sticking to his footballing principles despite their troubles this season.

Pats made it back-to-back wins for the second time this season as goals from Byrne, Christy Fagan and Josh O'Hanlon sank Bray Wanderers at Richmond Park on Friday night.

Gary McCabe had given the Seagulls an early lead in front of the Eir Sport cameras but the winger's header set in motion a comeback that lifts the Saints back above the relegation zone.

And Byrne, who has experienced highs and lows since making his debut for UCD as a 20-year-old in 2005, says the team have had to dig deep to avoid becoming the first Saints side to be relegated.

“This is my 13^th year now in the League of Ireland,” Byrne told extratime.ie Sportscast team Dec Marron and Dave Donnelly.

“I've been with clubs that have battled relegation, with UCD, and I've been at the highs of St Pats and the drop-off from that high to where we are now, unfortunately.

“I've lived with them. It's not a case of where the full-time whistle goes and I go home and everything is hunky dory until the following Friday.

“I have to go home and live with that, and my partner and kids don't see me in the best of form when we do lose.”

While the fans have voiced their frustration as the spectre of relegation has loomed ever-larger with teams around them picking up points, Byrne has nothing but praise for the Richer faithful.

“You have to understand where they're coming from. These are St Pats fans – they've never seen their club relegated.

“They never want to see their club relegated – nobody wants to see their club relegated. It was a major possibility, and it still is considering where we are in the table.

“Their frustrations are going to have to come out and we're just going to have to deal with it professionally, as we try and do.

“Thankfully they've stuck by with us something terrible and hopefully we repay them by staying in the division.”

Pats have won two of their three games since the return of midfielder Killian Brennan – scoring five goals – and the return of the PFAI Player of the Year for 2013 has been key to their recent surge.

“Liam's play and whole design is all about playing the ball and being confident on the ball, and Killian oozes that confidence.

“When he's on the ball, he oozes confidence to players around him as well because he's a naturally gifted footballer. Liam gets the best out of him.

“It's the way Liam wants to play – he'll never change that – and it's a testament to him.

“When we have players of Killian's calibre in the side, we will create chances, and you've seen over the past couple of games that we have created more chances than previous weeks.

“We've had success every year since 2013 with that style of play. We have some tremendous players at this club.”

Also on the extratime.ie Sportscast, we speak to Gavan Holohan on Galway United's recent upturn and the departure of former Cork City teammates Sean Maguire and Kevin O'Connor to Preston.

And Rebecca Creagh speaks about her time in Australia as she returns in time for Shelbourne's Champions League campaign in Belfast.

We also speak to extratime.ie reporter Tom O'Connor to get the lowdown on Shamrock Rovers' 1-0 win over Dundalk at Oriel Park on Sunday night.