Athlone Town welcome early pace-setters Sligo Rovers to Golden Island Park for series eight of the eircom League First Division this Friday night.
Sligo suffered their first defeat of the season last weekend at home to Monaghan United. However, with joint leaders going into the weekend Cobh Ramblers losing to Dublin City, Sean Connor's men now sit in second place, only one point behind new leaders, Dublin City.
Speaking to athlonetownfc.com ahead of the game, Town boss Stephen Kelly was under no illusion as to the importance of this game. "Sligo is a huge game", he said, "They've got off to a great start. They've got a very dedicated and professional manager in Sean Connor, and that's the way his team will be when they come to us.
"I've seen them once myself and I've had them watched once as well and they were watched against Monaghan, so we'll know a little bit about them, and I'm sure they'll have had us watched too because that's the way SeanConnor will do his business.
"We'll approach the game in the same way as always in that it's a unit that's on the pitch and in the dugout. A unit that works together, and plays for each other and wins for each other and if needs be puts their head in front of the ball on the line for each other. We've got to play as a unit, we're got to respect each other as players, we've got to respect what we have and what we've brought to together as a club and bring it on from strength to strength," he concluded.
"We're not too bad squad wise. Danny has a few aches and pains, sore jaw, sore ankle, but knowing Danny he'll pull through, he'll be alright. Graeme O'Keeffe is probably no better than 50/50 at the moment. Adrian Carberry is not available due to the fact that he is getting married on Saturday. Andy Noonan is also getting married on Saturday, but he is available. Eric Molloy is struggling. We're hoping to have a reserve game on Sunday, and Eric is hoping to play in that. He's just not quite right yet. Padraig Moran is the same. He should be playing on Sunday. He needs another three or four matches, but he's taking full part in all the training sessions now so it's only a matter of time."
Venue: Golden Island Park, Athlone
Kick-Off: 7:45PM
Referee: Neil Doyle [Dublin]
