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European adventures act as the reward for a year’s hard work, but Ger O’Brien insists St Patrick’s Athletic won’t be getting carried away this week.

For the Premier Division leaders, the trip to Lithuania to take on Zalgiris Vilnius is one that they are looking forward to but not allowing it to distract them from their title assault.

The Saints have not lifted the league title in 14 years and now that they are top of the table – three points ahead of Derry City – they are determined to continue setting the pace.

Yet, O’Brien knows that they must enjoy their European exploits as they return to Europa League combat, because it is something that Airtricity League players don’t experience too often. “We kind of know the opposition that we will be playing and there is nothing really overly to fear, but we won’t be going over there thinking that we just have to turn up to win,” said O’Brien.

“They are a good side and have seven or eight players who have represented their countries, so obviously they are decent footballers but so are we. Hopefully we can get a good result and bring it back to Richmond Park.

“These nights are fantastic for the players. They are stuff that unfortunately us as players will never get on a regular basis, but when we do it is something that we savour.

“We also know that we have the league to come back to, so we certainly won’t be letting one dictate the other. If it’s good enough, it’s good enough, if not, then we’ll come back and focus on the league.”

Saints boss Liam Buckley echoed the thoughts of O’Brien and called on his players to keep producing the kind of form that has put them in pole position for the league title.

Buckley believes it was vital that they secured a 2-0 victory over Bray Wanderers last Friday night, so that they keep the momentum going with a fixture pile-up on the horizon.

“We had the distraction of [Europe], so it’s a great win, from our point of view, because it keeps us top of the table, where we want to be,” stated Buckley.

“We want our performance to be good, we want to be at the top end of the table, we want to be in Cup finals and winning stuff. The best way to do that is by playing the way we are.

“We just need to keep ourselves focused and with a bit of luck with injuries and suspensions don’t damage us too much – let it roll on. If we can keep it going it would be great.”