AIDAN KEENA might not have had as much success as some Irish in Cheltenham.
But he insisted he is happy for St Pat’s to be one of the favourites to be first past the post in the League of Ireland this season.
Last summer, Keena was persuaded to return home from Britain for a second time — after a previous spell in Scotland — by St Pat’s boss Stephen Kenny.
The Mullingar man had spent 18 months in League One with Cheltenham Town.
After an impressive half-season — in which he scored six times in 14 starts — he found it the going tougher next time around.
He scored just once in 41 appearances, just over half of which were off the bench, as the Robins slipped into the bottom tier of the English League.
Keena said: “It is just football. You can be flying one season and then can have a difficult one the next.
“I came into the squad in the January. The first couple of games were difficult and then we hit a good run of form.
“I was playing well, scoring and getting a few assists. The next season we started really poorly.
“We found it tough to get going. A new manager came in and I went out of the team.
“We knew it was going to be a tough season. It was not the season I planned or wanted.”
He could not have come into a more different scenario at St Pat’s, for whom he first played in 2017 as a 17-year-old.
The ex-Sligo Rovers frontman was part of a team which got through two rounds of the Europa Conference League before meeting their match with Istanbul Basaksehir, who signed Ireland international Festy Ebosele last month.
In the 11 league games he played, St Pat’s took a whopping 31 points as he chipped in with five goals.
It was too little, too late with the Saints finishing four points adrift of champions Shelbourne.
And Keena knows the importance of a strong start this time around to ensure that they are not left with too much ground to make up.
The 25-year-old said: “We know it’s a completely different season and squads have changed and stuff like that but we were so confident at the end of the season.
“When it ended we just couldn’t wait for the next season to start.
“I wasn’t here but if we picked up a few more points at the start of last season we would have been closer to that title, that’s football.”
Their strong finish has meant that, along with Shamrock Rovers, whose four-year reign as champions was ended by Shels, they are favourites to finish top of the pile.
Keena is happy to embrace the expectation.
He said: “I suppose it’s a good thing. If they’re going to make someone favourites or be talking about someone it’s good that they’re talking about us but we know that it’s a long, long way away from any sort of a title or anything like that.
“That’s what, ten months away, we’ll start on Friday night, focus on that and hopefully get the good start we need.
“We have Drogheda and that’s all we’re worrying about. We’re not really thinking ahead yet.”
MAKE A MELIA
St Pat’s, of course, have been boosted by the news that they will retain the services of Mason Melia for this season ahead of his move to Spurs next January.
Keena knows that means a place in the starting XI is not guaranteed but he has no complaints.
He said: “He showed his quality last season and what he has about him.
“It was always going to come and I’m glad he’s found somewhere that he can go and feel valued. It’s brilliant for him.
“I think there was a little run where whoever didn’t play came on and scored so there’s definitely competition and the two of us got on really well.
“He’s a brilliant player and the two of us will battle it out.”