Kerry manager Robinson pleased with versatility and tight defence of his Kennedy Cup squad

THE manager of the Kennedy Cup team Ken Robinson says he is really looking forward to the competition and is confident the team will do well.

“All the preparations are almost done now and just keeping things ticking over for the next few days and dotting the Is and crossing the Ts before June 12. We travelled to Clare and played a few competitive games and this gave us an opportunity to vet the players and give them match practice. It was a good experience for the lads and they performed very well in each game,” Robinson said. Kerry continued their preparation at Pat Kennedy Park in Listowel last Sunday with a 3-1 win over Limerick County. Maurice O’Connell, John O’Connor and Callum Russell scored for Kerry.

“We started out in February with 85 players and this was later reduced to 36 and just a few weeks back we had to thin it down to 20 which was a very difficult task. The good thing about the squad this year is that most of the panel of players can play in different positions if required and we have a very strong bench and two excellent goalkeepers.

“Our policy in the competition will be not to concede goals as this is the way you win competitions. Two years ago when Kerry won the Kennedy Cup they only conceded one goal in the entire tournament. We have three great centre halves a creative midfield and we have natural goalscorers up front”

“As well as our coaches Tom Kelly and Joe O’Reilly who do an excellent job our physiotherapist John Kerly plays a huge role also as he looks after the players welfare from a fitness and injury point of view and he is in an ideal position to decide if a player can play or not”

Players diets are also very well looked after and a plan is in place to keep the squad occupied on idle days during their week long stay in Limerick”

“As far as I am concerned we have all the preparation done, all the advice taken considered and now it is down to the team to perform on the field of play. Our first game is against Drogheda and it is imperative we win this as it would give the team a huge lift and set them up nicely for the two games on Tuesday which will allow us to rotate our squad a bit.”

He says is very hard to predict how they will do in a competition of this nature but he has the best possible squad of players an excellent back-room team who have put in trojan work preparing the squad for the competition.

Cup games have a habit of going strangely as a game can be decided on a mistake a penalty decision or a bad refereeing decision he added.

Coach Tom Kelly who has been involved in preparing teams for the Kennedy Cup for a few years says that it will be a whole new experience for the squad being together for a week in Limerick during the competition and it is great that people with experience of this type of situation are in the management team.

“It will be our job to keep the players relaxed and occupied and have the best diet for their requirements”.

Meanwhile, Joe O’Reilly has also been involved in this situation before said he saw one of their opponents Sligo/Leitrim playing and he says they are a very good side.

“This is a massive tournament between some of the best young players in the country and we have to be well prepared and perfect our teams skills to a maximum”