Tickets for Friday night’s Dublin Derby are still available. The game will be shown live on RTE2. Kickoff is at 7.45pm

You must have been delighted with how we started the game in Drogheda in the first half hour and would we have been worth more than one goal?

I was very pleased with how we started the game, we were very bright, created some opportunities and scored the goal. After that, we were a bit sloppy and let them back into the game. 

Neil Farrugia looked so dangerous on the right-hand side and sure enough, he was the source of the opening goal, finished really well by Graham…

Neil did very well. We all started really well, but Neil was causing them a lot of problems down that side and created the goal.

But Drogheda came back into the game by hitting us on the break a few times and then scoring through Chris Lyons. Was everyone disappointed with the equalising goal?

We had a number of opportunities to clear the ball, but we didn’t and they punished it. As I said, after we scored we came off it for 10-15 minutes and allowed Drogheda into the game, they created opportunities, and that wasn’t something that we were happy with.

Alan Mannus had to come off on the hour mark. What was Al’s injury issue and how is he doing now?

Alan had hurt his knee against Shelbourne the previous week and felt it again during the warm-up. He felt it getting stiffer as the game progressed, hopefully, he will be ok for tomorrow.

The pitch and conditions were always a factor but was there anything we could have done more to make our man advantage count for the last 15 minutes, and snatch the win?

There were good opportunities to punish them in the final third, but we were half a yard offside, or maybe the ball was played too hard, and that happens at times. It’s difficult when there are so many players dotted across the 18 yard line, you have to be really precise with your timing and passing to make a breaktrhough

St Pat’s have only lost once in the league since we beat them 2-1 at Richmond Park in July. Does that suggest we’ll have to be at our best to beat them again on Friday?

We’ll have to be at our best, it’s a big game. St Pats are playing very well, they have some good players and they will be coming to Tallaght to win the game. We know that we have to be at our very best to take three points. 

With only three league games left does it feel like there’s a lot at stake in every game we play now and are the players embracing that challenge?

We know that there are only a few games left in the season. We will focus like we always do, prepare like we always do, and if we perform as we do more often than no the result will look after itself

It’s our first Friday night game in Tallaght in quite a while so hopefully with the finishing line so close, the fans will come out and help us get there?

The fans have been brilliant all season. They have travelled in huge numbers both domestically and in Europe, and hopefully, we can have a big crowd tomorrow night. It’s very important to us, the fans have helped us get over the line in many a game this year. 

Gary O’Neill also came off at half time in Drogheda. How is he for Friday and is anyone unavailable through injury or suspension?

Gary is 50-50 right now. It is very unlike Gary to come off as he did, it shows that he was hurt, and we will assess him again today