Cobh Ramblers are in pre-season action this Thursday January 16th, taking on Premier Division outfit St Patrick’s Athletic on the All-Weather pitch in Mayfield United at 8pm. The Dublin side will no doubt be a tough test for Stuart Ashton’s Rams, having finished fifth in last season’s top tier. We caught up with Stuart ahead of the game, first speaking about how the game came about,

”I know Stephen [O’Donnell, Pat’s Manager], quite a while and he was onto me, looking for friendlies during their training camp in Cork. They’re playing us first and then Fermoy on Saturday before heading back to Dublin. They wanted games and so did we so it’s worked out well for both sides.”

On the game itself, Mikey Foley is the only absentee having picked up an injury in training of late. Several trialists will be involved on the night according to Ashton,

”The squad is coming together nicely but we’re still looking to add a few more. There’ll be a few new faces playing in this one and we’ll see where we go after that. We’ll try and tie the squad down then fully in the next week or so.”

“At the end of the day it’s pre-season and for me it’s about getting back into the swing of it and getting the fitness back. The result doesn’t mean anything, but of course no-one wants to lose. As coaching staff we want to try out a few things, see how the trialists do and get out injury free.”

Finally, this week saw John Kavanagh and Kevin Taylor re-sign for the club and the gaffer is clearly pleased to have both involved,

”We’re always looking to improve the squad and to get the calibre of these players involved is brilliant for us. It shows where we are going as a a group and as a club that these lads want to be involved.”

Kick-off on Thursday is at 8pm in Mayfield.