RICHIE HUNGRY FOR TROPHIES
ing on the right side of midfield [against Wexford] and to have him there, he just talks me through the whole game,” explained Burns.
Earful
“He’d give me an old earful if I don’t track back, but that’s just the experience. He is a leader on the pitch. To have him there and Bermo; the experience in this squad is scary.
“Then you’ve Robbie Benson out injured, [John] Mountney out injured, but even in training they are watching on saying,
‘ Darragh,
RICHIE TOWELL doesn’t seek to hide his desire to propel Shamrock Rovers to the pinnacle of Irish football for the long term.
It’s now almost three months since the gifted midfielder made his Hoops debut in the 3-1 Premier Division win over his former club Dundalk where he was hugely instrumental in creating the Lilywhites’ all-conquering side of the last decade.
Dundalk are now embroiled in a battle to avoid the relegation play-off slot, with Rovers set to retain their championship crown.
Victory
Dundalk courted the Dubliner when he announced earlier this year that he would be leaving Salford City but it was Stephen Bradley’s plans that caught his mood.
Following last weekend’s crucial 1-0 win at Sligo Rovers, Towell and Rovers travel to St Patrick’s Athletic tonight (7.45) knowing that victory will leave them nine points ahead of their hosts and with a game in hand.
“This is the main reason that I came here — I want to dominate football with Shamrock Rovers,” declared Towell.
“That target started as soon as I came into the club at the start of July.
“Since then, we’ve played eight league games and won seven of them.”
Towell was an early Stephen Kenny recruit at Oriel Park in January 2013 and helped the club win two league crowns, a FAI Cup and League Cup before Brighton snapped him up in 2016.
“The two teams are very similar. We like to control the game, to create chances, get balls into the box, get real energy into our game.
“If we can emulate what happened at Dundalk, which was incredible with back-toback league titles when I was there, that is what it’s all about,” added the 30-year-old who is also seeking to address Rovers’ disappointing Europa Conference League exit.
“If we can retain the league title then we again have the champions’ route in the Champions League qualifiers with, hopefully, a seeding.
just look out for this or that’. “It’s making our job easier and hopefully with their experience and with the gaffer trusting us and us playing well, we can do big things this year.”
Forrester is thrilled to see so many youngsters breaking into the first-team.
“I think it’s really good,” said the former Peterborough man. “I’ve built up a good relationship with a lot of the younger boys in the team.
“It’s just great seeing them come in. When they’ve been given the chance, every time they’ve come in they’ve done really well. I’m really pleased for them.
Sword
“This is the only regret that we’ve had this year — not putting teams to the sword in Europe when I felt that we could made the group stages.”
The Saints may have played one game more than their local rivals but they remain very much in the title hunt.
“We’ll concentrate on ourselves and our preparation for every game has been exactly the same,” stated Towell.
“We have a little look at our opponents and they we focus on ourselves. I think you see that in the way we play.”
“In terms of them being young lads, a lot of them have really experienced heads on their shoulders. Ben [McCormack] plays like he’s a veteran of the game who’s been playing the game for years.
“Darragh [Burns] is just lightning on the wing. There are a couple more like Kian Corbally, Josh Keeley… they are all very good players and all have good heads on their shoulders.
Worry
“When you saw James Abankwah against Cork recently it looked like he’s been playing the game for years at senior level.
“It is really good to see them all come through, just to watch their progress week in week out low) has been really enjoyable. I don’t worry at all about any of them when they are called in to play in the positions they play in.”
St Pat’s face reigning champions Shamrock Rovers tonight, knowing a win would close the gap at the top to three points, albeit with the Hoops having a game-in-hand.
Saints are second and into the semi-finals of the FAI Cup.
“It’s brilliant to have that hype around the club,” said Forrester.
“People are interested in us and there are more fans showing up. It’s a good place to be in terms of challenging for stuff. We are right there.
“We’re in the semis of the cup and it’s going to be an exciting few weeks. It’s where you want to be as a footballer.”