RONAN FINN IS NO doubt focused on preparing for an EA Sports Cup tie with Drogheda United this evening.
In nine days’ time however, the Shamrock Rovers midfielder will get what could be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to line out against the club he has supported since he was a boy.
Liverpool, who are aiming to win their first title in 24 years, travel to Dublin to take on Shamrock Rovers at the Aviva Stadium in a glamour friendly on 14 May.
The Reds face Crystal Palace in their penultimate league game of the season tonight and Finn is hoping Brendan Rodgers’ side can pip Chelsea and Manchester City to the Premier League.
“I’m a Liverpool fan so them coming here to play is something that excites me,” Finn said. “The fact that it’s in the Aviva in front of 40-odd thousand is a bonus.
“If you had said to me that Liverpool were going to win the league at the start of the year I wouldn’t have believed you. Touch wood they do go on to win the league and for us to be playing them only a few days later is amazing.
“You can’t help excited about it but in saying that we need to concentrate on our league games as it is early days and we have a lot of play for.
“The league is our main priority and this is a one-off game. We’ve got to aim for three points before the Liverpool game and after it, then hopefully it’s something that we play well in.”
Whether they arrive as champions or not, Liverpool’s squad is likely to be seriously depleted with just three days between their final game (against Newcastle) and taking on the Hoops.
If it is the case that captain Steven Gerrard does make the trip, Finn is adamant that he will be claiming the midfielder’s jersey at the final whistle.
Since he burst onto the scene, Steven Gerrard has been someone that I would look up to in every sense. He is my idol. On the pitch, off the pitch, he is just a proper professional and you would listen to every word he says.
“I’ve said it to the lads that if he steps onto the pitch I’ll be making sure I’m coming off with his jersey.
“To be honest I don’t expect them to play. They’ve got a World Cup coming up and God knows how important that is to them.
“No matter what they’ll have a strong team out even if it’s not their household names. There will still be boys that aren’t in World Cup squads or players from teams who didn’t qualify.”
Finn, who has experience in the Europa League group stages with Rovers, adds that they will be keen to impress despite the fact that it’s a friendly.
“We’re representing the league in that sense in that there are obviously a lot of people who will go to the game that one go to a game on Friday night.
So we’ll put on a good performance and hopefully get ourselves a better reputation around Ireland from people who don’t look at the league too strongly. We want to make a good account of ourselves.
“If you look at Shamrock Rovers in European football, only a couple of years ago we were in the Europa League so we’ve done well.
“Don’t get me wrong Liverpool are a top class side but it’s still a football game and you don’t play not to win. We’ll be going out to put on a good show as it is going to be a big high profile game. I’ll want to play well anyway.”
