Preview: St Patricks Athletic vs Sligo Rovers

The gloves are off and all the towels are still firmly on the rack as Saint Patrick’s Athletic begin their prophesied ascent to the 2008 league title against a less fancied Sligo Rovers. The game kicks off at 7.45 at Richmond Park and a sell out crowd is expected.

Saints manager John McDonnell has yet to announce his team with an array of new faces vying for start. Though we can assume that McDonnell will stick with the team that started against the Blackburn Reserves in a friendly last week, substitute striker Glen Fitzpatrick may well be pushing for a start after scoring and setting up another in a 3-1 victory for Pat’s.

Of the seven new signings, 5 started last week with Joe O’Cearuill the most impressive at the back. Gary Dempsey, Jamie Harris and Damien Lynch are all likely to start, as is Bobby Ryan who also scored last week. If prolific striker Mark Quigley can pick up where he left off and add more goals to his game, then he could be used as a lone striker if McDonnell employs a five-man midfield and he would be more than capable of handling that role.

Saint Pat’s have no injury worries ahead of the curtain raiser clash.

Over in the North West, the mood is one of reserve. Conor O'Grady will captain Sligo Rovers in the absence of Gavin Peers, who along with Danny Ventre and Seamus Coleman are carrying suspensions forward from last season and will miss Sligo Rovers first game of the 2008 campaign. Steve Feeney will also miss this game with a groin strain picked up in training this week.

Rovers manager Paul Cook announced yesterday that his side have no chance of winning this years league. Not a good omen when coming up against the likes of a beaming Saint Pat’s outfit. “To be fair, I think it is impossible,” he said, “I don’t want to be a defeatist where I accept defeat too easily - but what I have got to be is a realist. Whether people like it or not and some people might criticize me for saying this, but there are only certain clubs that can win the Premier Division.”

The bookies seem to be in little doubt over who the favorite is tomorrow night with Pat’s at 1-6 to win and Rovers at 7-2. If the odds for visiting teams to win remain as slim all season, the Saint’s fateful could be betting on visiting sides before too long. A win – win situation for any Saint.