Airtricity XI can match City and Celts, says Rico

DAMIEN RICHARDSON is confident his Airtricity League XI can hold their own against Scottish club Celtic and Premier League giants Manchester City in next month’s inaugural Dublin Super Cup.

Richardson named his initial 35-man panel for the tournament yesterday and is relishing the prospect of taking on the best Scotland and England has to offer on July 30 and 31 at the Aviva Stadium.

“I’m confident we’ll be capable of competing with Celtic and Manchester City in this tournament, which I feel has captured the imagination of the Irish sporting public,’’ Richardson said.

“I’ve already spoken to some of the boys and I know how thrilled they are to be taking part in a game that will be broadcast around the world and already I sense a mood of anticipation and determination beginning to build.”

The initial panel contains six of the players from last year’s Airtricity League team that lost to Manchester United in a friendly but players from FAI Ford Cup winners Sligo Rovers have not been considered for selection as they will be involved in Europa League action.

The final squad will be cut down closer to the tournament, with 25 players in the final selection.

Initial 35-man Airtricity League selection to face Celtic and Manchester City: Ger Doherty (Derry City), Gary Rogers (St Patrick’s Athletic), Alan Mannus (Shamrock Rovers), Pat Sullivan (Shamrock Rovers), Owen Heary (Bohemians), Simon Madden (Dundalk), Stewart Greacen, Shane McEleney (Derry City), Colin Hawkins (Dundalk), Dan Murray, Craig Sives, Ken Oman (Shamrock Rovers), Danny Murphy (Cork City), Daniel Lafferty (Derry City), Daniel Kearns (Dundalk), Gareth McGlynn (Derry City), Daryl Kavanagh (St Patrick’s Athletic), Gary McCabe (Shamrock Rovers), Barry Molloy, Ruaidhri Higgins (Derry City), Joe Gamble (Limerick), Gary Dempsey (Bray Wanderers), Dave Mulcahy (St Patrick’s Athletic), Dean Bennett (Dundalk), Ronan Finn, Conor McCormack, Stephen Rice (Shamrock Rovers), Killian Brennan (Bohemians), Ross Gaynor (Dundalk), James McClean (Derry City), Gary Twigg, Karl Sheppard (Shamrock Rovers), Eamon Zayed (Derry City), Jason Byrne (Dundalk), Danny North (St Patrick’s Athletic).