Roesiders to host Banbridge Town

Town have been in Championship Two from the end of the 11/12 when they got relegated from Championship One.

So far this season they have played just three league games, one less than United who have played four.

They have won one, drawn one and lost the other fixture and have the same amount of points (4).

In those games they have scored four times whilst conceding five at the other end compare to United who have scored seven but have conceded eight although four of those came in one game.

Since the clubs last met there have been major changes at both clubs in both playing staff and management.

When the teams last met United won both games in the 11/12 season, winning 2-1 away with both goals from Gareth McConaghie.

They won the home game 9-0 that season. Paul McLaughlin (2), Trevor Parkhill, Ciaran Clarke (2), Lee Patrick (2), Declan Logue and Declan Divin all found the target in that fixture.

Looking forward to this game Roesiders boss Neil Mullan is looking for a better performance from his team.

“We didn’t play well enough last Friday night against Roe Rovers in the Craig Memorial Cup,” he said.

“It’s frustrating for me because we seem to be taking one positive step for then one negative one backwards.

“We never seem to have a positive step forward followed by another positive step forward unfortunately.

“For me that’s the most frustrating thing because I feel that we should be moving forward all the time.”

Mullan knows that it’s up to the players to take on board what he is trying to do with the club to take it forward.

“To be honest we just need everyone to buy into exactly what we are trying to do at the club now.

We have a good squad now where we have twenty-two players rather than the bare bones we had last season.

“However that means that if players aren’t performing then they simply won’t be in the team because we have players to replace them.

When they are in position of a shirt then they must work as hard as possible to make sure they keep it.

“Healthy competition between the players is good and it’s something that can only be a positive for the club,” he finished.

Ahead of this game United are likely to be back to a full squad to choose from after several missing the last game.

Ryan Mullan, Ryan Logue, Daibhaid McIvor, Wes Ferguson, Hugh Carlin, Marcus O’Kane and Ray Kelly all come back into contention.

Gareth Brown did pick up a slight knock last Friday night but he is expected to feature in this game.