Moran urges Athlone players to show no fear at the Brandywell
by Adrian Cusack Updated: Wednesday, 24th March, 2010 5:00pm
Athlone Town assistant manager Padraig Moran has predicted a difficult test away to Derry City at the Brandywell on Friday night (7.45pm) - but said that with the right attitude the midlanders can extract a result from the trip north.
Moran is well-acquainted with The Brandywell, having spent three injury-blighted seasons as a Derry City player.
Stephen Kenny's team was relegated to the lower division at the end of last season when it emerged that its players were issued with secondary, unofficial contracts.
Despite the fact that some of their top players from last year have moved on, Moran warned that Derry will still provide formidable opposition on Friday.
"They have dropped down from the Premier Division and lost a few key players but the bulk of their squad from last year is still in place," he commented.
"They're not to be underestimated by any means. Stephen Kenny is still there so that shows he obviously believes they can go on and achieve promotion this year. The Brandywell can be a very intimidating place so it'll be a daunting task on Friday."
Asked about his own memories of playing for Derry, the Athlone native said: "Derry is football-mad. The supporters are very passionate. I remember scoring on my debut up there and there were 4,000 people going crazy when the goal went in. The pitch in the Brandywell is like a carpet and they're not a long-ball team - they try to get the ball down and play. I think that will suit us because that's what we try to do also."
Athlone manager Brendan Place was in Blackburn for the first half of this week, where he was working towards the completion of the UEFA Pro Licence for coaches. This meant Moran took charge for Athlone's 1-0 win over Longford in the League Cup on Monday.
After collecting seven league points from a possible nine, he said the mood among the Athlone players was extremely positive.
"Everyone's buzzing at the moment. The players all bounce off each other. It's a small, tight-knit group," he said.
"We've got a guy in goal, Chris Bennion, who's been a godsend since he arrived because not only has he been giving excellent performances on the pitch he's also been great off the pitch as well, chatting to lads and helping to boost team spirit. Players like Austin Skelly have come in and helped with that as well. It's good because a positive team spirit can be as important as the physical side of things.
"We've had a great start to the season so far. Winning is a habit and it's a habit we have to get into. In general, the level of ambition at Athlone hasn't been huge over the last few years. I think that has to change and I think Brendan Place is the right man to change it because personally I've learned so much from working with him."
Moran stated that Athlone will feel the impact of suspensions on Friday, with Des Hope, Kevin Williamson and Noel McGee all likely to be ineligible for the game.
Midfielder Robbie Benson is also expected to miss out as a result of his involvement in an international schools' match, though Stephen Caffrey should return following his suspension during last weekend's 1-1 draw against Cork City Foras.
Moran said it was important that Athlone don't show the opposition too much respect on Friday.
"Playing at the Brandywell will be a new experience, particularly for the younger lads, but I thought that we showed Cork too much respect during the first 20 minutes on Saturday and we need to ensure that doesn't happen again. It's important that we don't have any fear going into this game. It will be difficult but if we work hard enough there's no reason why we shouldn't get something from it."
Friday's game will be Athlone's first competitive outing against Derry since a 5-2 defeat in the 1999/2000 League Cup final.
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