As a product of Limerick's underage set-up, Tony Whitehead has been with the Shannonsiders longer than most. The 22-year-old centre-half finally feels he has been given a chance to prove himself at senior level in 2017, and is looking forward to th
As a product of Limerick's underage set-up, Tony Whitehead has been with the Shannonsiders longer than most.
The 22-year-old centre-half finally feels he has been given a chance to prove himself at senior level in 2017, and is looking forward to the tail end of his "breakthrough year".
"I've waited a long time. I think I've been at the club five years now so I had to be patient and learn from older players. At the start, it was the likes of Paddy Purcell and then obviously Robbie Williams came in. They helped me all the time.
"This year, it was my proper breakthrough year so I'm just hoping to stay in the team as long as I can and hopefully earn a contract next year. Neil [McDonald] coming in has been big for me. He's very good defensively; sets us up well and has helped me big time," he said.
With the departure of Martin Russell, the interim tenure of Willie Boland and the lengthy process that produced the appointment of Neil McDonald, Limerick's league campaign has been somewhat fragmented. Despite this, they find themselves in a relatively healthy position in the top half. Whitehead insists however that the season must remain relevant.
"We definitely don't want to be looking over our shoulders anyway. We'll look to establish ourselves and pull away from trouble and focus on the top three or four. Obviously from the fans' point of view, we don't want the season to stagnate so we need something to play for in the last few games," he finished.
Limerick were drawn away to Cobh Ramblers in the first round of the Irish Daily Mail FAI Cup, and while the defender knows the league is priority, he couldn't deny that an Aviva appearance had crossed his mind a couple of times in the past.
"All our concentration is on the league but I've never had a run in the FAI Cup while I've been here so hopefully this is the year we can get into the later rounds and push on. It will be tough but hopefully we get through the first round and get a nice few draws and turn it into a cup run.
"The Aviva - that's the dream scenario - finishing third and getting to an FAI Cup final but we'll have to take it as it comes," he admitted.
