Tickets remain on sale for Monday evenings match in Tallaght Stadium, kick off at 8pm. The match will be shpwn live on LOITV

We extended our lead at the top with a 3-1 win on the road against Waterford. What’s your reflection on the performance?

“What I felt afterwards was what I felt when we reviewed it. The first half was pretty even, if anything, Waterford were the better team in the first half. They started well and scored a good goal but we came into it then. Then second half I thought we were better, especially when we made the changes. They gave us real energy.”

Waterford were straight out of the blocks and full of confidence after four wins in a row and their dangerman Padraig Amond’s superb header gave them a tenth minute lead. Were we a bit off it in the early stages?

“Yes, we were. To be fair, you have to give Waterford credit. They were good and sometimes that happens away from home. But what was important is that we were nice and calm when that happened. We got to half time 1-1 and as I said, we were better second half and when we made the subs we were very good.”

You rightly praised Michael Noonan’s finish for our vital second goal, it was so calm and mature. Much has been made of the Waterford keeper’s poor clearance, but was the pressing of Graham Burke and Aaron Greene that led to that underestimated as well as Michael’s clinical finish?

“It was a really good press from us. Obviously, the Waterford goalkeeper would be disappointed with his kick, but when it comes to Michael it’s a hell of a finish. I don’t think you can underestimate how difficult that technique is, in terms of playing it first time and getting the weight right. It’s a very very good finish.”

You mentioned recently the dressing room is a very healthy place, with the young lads pushing the more experienced ones and the older ones leading the younger ones in the group ethic. That looked hugely evident in Waterford.

“I think so. You could see it, with Michael coming on, John O’Sullivan and Cian Barrett also, and Cory O’Sullivan has played a lot. What that shows is you’ve got young players that aren’t just here to be here. They’re here because they’re ready to play and ready to push and it’s great to see and it’s what we want. We want competition for places, we want those young players pushing to play. Those I mentioned have shown they’re more than ready to play for this team and that’s only a healthy thing for the group.”

We meet St. Pat’s who sit four points behind us in the table. We’ve taken four points from two games against them so far,  but they have the dangerous Aidan Keena back after injury and quality throughout their team. It should be a cracking game.

“It should be a good game. Two good teams, Pat’s have real quality, so it should be a really good game. Our pitch in Tallaght is always incredible, the weather is obviously still nice, so it has the makings to be a really good game.”

Did everyone come away from Waterford ok and are any of Aaron McEneff, Danny Mandroiu, Dylan Watts or Dan Cleary ready to return against St. Pat’s?

“We’ve one or two knocks from Friday night, as always, that’s quite normal. But other than Seán Kavanagh, everyone else is fit and available which is good. Aaron, Dylan, Dan and Danny had a good week’s training with the team so the group and the squad is in a good place.”