Friday night’s match in Richmond Park will be shown live on RTE2.

Was that a big three points and a hard-fought win in Sligo on Saturday?

“It was a good win. I thought we played well, and I felt we deserved it. It was a tough game; it always is when you go to Sligo.”

Was it one of our best away performances of the whole season?

“It was a good performance because it had a bit of everything from us. We played well in spells, created chances and then we had to defend really well at the end, so it had a bit of everything, which was pleasing. And of course, it’s always nice to come away with a clean sheet.”

Another goal for Rory Gaffney, he seems to like the Showgrounds. Was that good anticipation and finishing from Rory?

“Yeah, it was really good forward play to follow in and to finish. It was a good goal and Rory was good on the night, so I was delighted he got his goal.”

McGinty made some good saves as well in both halves so it could have been more?

“Yeah, the goalkeeper made some very good saves. I think he made two or three in both halves, but he can do that. He’s a very good goalkeeper.”

Did you feel our defence looked very solid on the night with Lee Grace back in, Sean Gannon in the back three and Barry Cotter on the left side, all earning the clean sheet?

“Yeah, but I think the clean sheet comes as a team. It’s not just a back three, it comes from a team. I’ve said it before, when we concede goals, nine times out of ten it’s a team issue. And when we keep clean sheets it’s the same. So, I felt all over the pitch we defended well, which is good carrying on from Waterford.”

Are you anticipating perhaps a sort of gung-ho approach from St Pat’s because of their position below us in the table and their need to close the gap?

“I’m not sure, their game plan will be their game plan. All we do is focus on ourselves and what we do. We make sure we bring that to the table and let’s see where that takes us. But we always focus on ourselves.”

There was a last-minute winner in Inchicore earlier in the season and an excellent performance in the 3-1 win in Tallaght. Will we take confidence from those meetings into Friday?

“I think you go on your last game. That’s football and that’s the way it goes. It’s usually on your last game and we’ve done well. We’ll go there with confidence and we’re very much looking forward to it. We know it’ll be a difficult game because they’re a good side. They’re second in the league for a reason.”

Ronan Finn was injured near the end of the Sligo game. How is he doing, and could we have any of the others – Graham Burke, Joey O’Brien, Aaron Greene and Sean Hoare – back for Friday?

“I think Ronan is going to be OK, but we’ll need to check on him. We’ll have to check on all of them in the next coming days in training and obviously tomorrow to see where we are but they’re all coming on really well and they’re really close.”