LIMERICK FC manager Martin Russell has vowed to stay true to his attacking principles with eight games left in the 2015 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
The Super Blues are on the road to Louth this Friday August 28 to take on Drogheda United, where Limerick drew 2-2 earlier in the season.
On a run of 10 points from a possible 12, Limerick’s last five games have seen them score 13 goals but concede 14. However, Russell insists he will not ‘park the bus’ in future games, believing that his team’s positive approach has been key in their impressive recent form.
“We’ll continue to try and play in an attacking way but we’ve got to defend better and try not to concede. The recent results we’ve got, we got because we’ve been brave. We’ve gone to win the games and I think there’s a formula there that, if we keep at it, will see us right.”
Limerick are six points adrift at the bottom of the table, but the five teams immediately above them are separated by just three points, making top flight survival a possibility.
Russell’s first target is a win on Friday to take them closer to 11th place and a relegation play-off against the First Division runners-up.
The manager said: “I think anybody that’s within the seven-point radius of us can’t see themselves as being safe. We’ve got to play them and they’ve got to play each other, so I think there will be twists and turns right up to the end and we want to be in there at the end.
“I’ve seen one or two games in the First Division and it’s been proven in the past that you have got to respect that the top two or three teams in the First Division are definitely capable of giving the bottom two or three in the Premier a game over two legs.
“We’ll cross that bridge if we manage to come to it. In the meantime our focus is on getting in a good performance against Drogheda that keeps us improving.”
Limerick defender Paudie O’Connor has been placed on a standby list for the Republic of Ireland under 19 squad for their forthcoming friendly against Italy in Tirreni on Monday September 7.
The 18 year-old has been a regular fixture in Limerick’s first team and he thinks that the experience will stand to him.
“You’ve got to take things a lot quicker. You’ve got to keep learning from each game and I wouldn’t have expected at the start of the season to play so many games but you just have to take each game as it comes,” he said.
