Mahon doesn't expect Europa boycott

Soccer:St. Patrick's Athletic manager Pete Mahon would be "shocked" if his players boycotted Thursday's Europa League qualifier against Karpaty Lyviv because of their payment dispute with the club. However, the Richmond Park boss is less confident the league match against UCD will remain unaffected.

Pat’s trail Karpaty 2-0 from the first leg of their third round qualifier and players expressed their frustration over the club’s lack of engagement on bonus payments through the PFAI yesterday.

After announcing their intention to abstain from media duties before the game the players’ claim that they would “take any further steps we deem necessary” was seen by some as a threat to boycott the game.

When asked today if he was confident that would not be the case, Mahon responded: “Yeah, very confident. I think I know the players better than anyone. They’ve been very professional all along and I don’t see any reason why that would change now.

“The issue is between the PFAI and the board of directors. At this stage, I trust it will be resolved.

“Obviously any distraction isn’t helpful at this stage. This is a very important game and we have a lot riding on it and even in the normal course of events there are a lot of distractions.

“I’m very disappointed that we find ourselves in this position but I’d be very surprised, I’d actually be shocked if our players didn’t play.”

Mahon was less certain about the scheduled meeting with UCD on Sunday, given the part-time players' anger over inadequate compensation for loss of earnings uncurred during the European run.

“That’s another kettle of fish, I can’t give any guarantees regarding that,” he said. “But we’ve done very well in Europe, I think we’re the only team that has won two games so far this season. There was no sign of any problem at training last night.

On Thursday’s game, the manager said it is essential they don’t concede another to the Ukrainian side.

“They are a very good side but they are by no means unbeatable. We can’t concede a goal, though, cos I really couldn’t see us scoring four.”

Mahon will have Stephen Bradley and Daryl Kavanagh back from suspension, while Dave Mulcahy back from injury.

“We missed Bradley in particular out there because we struggled to hold on to the ball in the heat. Obviously we have Dave fully fit again but I’ll think about that because Ian Daly has done well when he’s come in.”