‘We want to finish as high as we can’
VICTORIES in each of Bray Wanderers’ last five matches will carry them over the 50 points mark and that is what Harry Kenny is asking of his troops.
A patched up Seagulls side had enough in the tank to cruise to a 1-3 success over Wexford Youths and nail down their Premier Division status for another season.
If Wanderers can topple Bohemians at the Carlisle Grounds on Friday, it will see them climb above the Gypsies into sixth (of fifth, depending on how Sligo fared last night against St. Patrick’s Athletic).
For the visit of Keith Long’s men, Kenny expects to welcome John Sullivan, Dean Kelly, Darragh Noone and Dylan Connolly back into contention for a starting place but they were not needed in Ferrycarrig Park.
“The lads that came in did very well. I played Alan McNally in the middle of the pitch, Alan Kehoe came in at left-back and there was a lot of movement around to get the team shape right. They were great.
“It shows you the strength of the squad that we have now. You need that though and especially at this time of the year when the suspensions catch up on you and the injuries catch up on you so you need a big squad.”
Bray were joint-bottom when Kenny took over. Wanderers are now 23 points clear of basement side Longford Town and a top six finish is on the cards.
“We’ve come a long way. We’ve had one defeat in 14 matches and that’s a fantastic run when you think about where we were at the start of the season and in that run we’ve beaten Dundalk, we’ve drawn with Rovers and beaten Pat’s. I’m delighted with the way things are going and I’m delighted with the attitude and the lads have been great. Everything is good at the moment.
“We’re trying to win every game between now and the end of the season. We haven’t really set ourselves any targets but we want to finish as high as we can and build for next year.”
The squad may not have any target to hit but Ger Pender has become accustomed to hitting his own target recently. Four goals in four games leave him on the cusp of a club record; a goal on Friday would see him become the first Bray player to notch in five consecutive matches. He is one of a number of players potentially set for sit-down talks with Kenny in the near future as the boss begins plotting for 2017.
“That’s a great record. We’ve four strikers at the moment but he’s doing great. He’s scoring the goals but he’s playing well as well. I’m delighted for him because he’s worked hard and he kept us going when we had a few injuries and things hadn’t really been coming off for him so I’m glad to see he’s getting a run now at this moment.
“There’s very few on two-year contracts. It’ll start soon enough. I wanted to get the Wexford thing out of the way first and make sure we were mathematically safe so I’ll probably start negotiations in the next week or two.”