Terry Butler: 'There's a lot of belief in the squad and we'll see where we go'

Andrew Dempsey reports from the Aviva Stadium

After a couple of years in the FAI Cup doldrums, Athlone Town boss Terry Butler believes the belief within his young squad can only help in a potential cup run for the historic Midland’s club.

With the added spice of the clash being a local derby against Longford Town, Butler is content with the draw even if it is away from their Lissywoolen home venue.

“It’s a local derby so it’s always going to be tasty isn’t it, the former Bohemians number two told extratime.ie.

“There hasn’t been a lot between the two teams in the past couple of meetings. We’re happy enough with it but maybe I’d be happier if we got a team in a bigger division but sure look. It’s the cup, anything can happen, and we’ll see what happens.

“It will be a great day and occasion for the club playing in the cup. It’s a shame that it’s away from home as it will make things a little bit harder, but the boys will relish it.

“We’re starting to get a bit of positive momentum now in the past couple of league games. We’ve obviously gone close to a few wins before the Wexford game. There’s a lot of belief in the squad and we’ll see where we go. The lads seem happy on WhatsApp so there looking forward to it already.”

With the positive momentum starting to slowly kickstart their fledgling season, Butler noted he felt as if it was just a matter of time before his side would start picking up results once more.

“It was a case of when, not if it was going to happen, I felt. We’ve done well over the past few games and we’ve managed to get a win and we’re now looking to bring that into the Cobh game on Saturday and we’ll be looking for the three points.

“It’s always tough when you go down to Cobh, we got a one-nil win last time we were there, but it probably should have been a draw on the night.



“It’s a tight pitch, and it’s a good trip down, but it’s coming on the back of a bit of positivity within the squad, so the squad are really looking forward to it.

“We’d hope to be doing some more transfer business in the next few weeks. There’s a couple of players I’m talking to at the minute but we’re looking for the right mix.

“The ethos of the club is to bring players like Paddy Kelly through to the first team within the constraints of the club.”