Galway United manager Shane Keegan believes his side are up for the the challenge of gaining promotion in what has become a very competitive SSE Airtricity League First Division. An away victory over Athlone Town on Friday night leaves Galway in thi
Galway United manager Shane Keegan believes his side are up for the the challenge of gaining promotion in what has become a very competitive SSE Airtricity League First Division.
An away victory over Athlone Town on Friday night leaves Galway in third place in the table, five points behind leaders UCD having played a game less.
With their next two games set to be against fellow promotion-chasers Finn Harps and UCD, Keegan feels that now is the time for his team to hit some form.
“At this stage it looks like there is going to be six teams right there to the death. I think every team is capable of going on a bit of a run, we are hoping to go on one at the moment,” he said.
“I think there’s a good few capable of putting maybe two or three wins together. All of a sudden you can shoot from maybe fifth up to second, or third to first, I think that's going to happen throughout the year.
“There have been maybe four teams cut adrift a little bit, but I think you will see those other six teams jockeying for position right through to the death. Its going to make for a fantastic division.”
Currently, only six points separate the top five teams in the First Division.
With the Premier Division being reduced from 12 to 10 teams for this campaign, Galway were one of three teams to suffer relegation from the top flight.
Keegan says that while he was initially disappointed with how the restructuring affected his club, it has ultimately worked for the League of Ireland as a whole.
“From a competition perspective, to be fair to the F.AI., it does seem to be working out reasonably well.”
“It is what it is, and we have to do everything that we can to get back into it (the Premier Division),” he added.
