Evan Caffrey will glance at both dugouts tonight and see the two managers who have helped him most in the senior game.
But the Shelbourne ace, 20, also knows what side his bread is buttered and will make no apologies to Andy Myler for it.
UCD boss Myler handed Caffrey his breakthrough at this level when signing him from Shamrock Rovers underage set-up in the summer of 2021.
“I was in their U19s for two weeks and then Andy Myler called me up and I was in their first-team from that point on,” the midfielder told Mirror Sport.
“Andy was brilliant with me and I’ve great respect for him on and off the pitch because he did wonders for me and my career.
“He gave me confidence and we went on and did well, getting promoted in the playoffs and then staying up in the Premier last year.
“That was my main objective going to UCD, to play a lot of games. You’re playing with a sense of freedom at that club.
“Everyone knows they wouldn’t have that many supporters, so there’s not a load of people on your back if the team is losing a few games.
“You don’t have that pressure and it allows you to play with a sense of freedom and learn the senior game at a young age.”
If Myler is in the blue corner tonight, Damien Duff is in the red.
And Caffrey couldn’t say no to the Ireland legend when he came calling over the winter months.
Not least because he was Caffrey’s U15s manager at Shamrock Rovers and the pair already had a good relationship long before his time under Myler.
Caffrey said: “It’s the same old. I knew what it would be like working for him and I enjoy my football because of the massive effort he and the staff put into us.
“You want to repay him with results on the pitch. As a young player coming up in football, to have a manager who had a career like he did is amazing.
“The work and time he put into us at Rovers U15s is exactly the same as with Shels. He made us want to win every game for him and really got behind us as a team.”
And Caffrey revealed how Duff would go the extra mile with players to help them off the pitch, as well as on it.
“I was starting to get in and around the Ireland U15s and the gaffer was on the coaching staff,” he said.
“He would bring me down to some of the camps to train with the squad, so I’m always grateful for what he’s done for me in football. He has taught me a lot.”
After last week’s draw in Drogheda, Duff called on his players to deliver a dominant display in the next few games having seen flashes of their potential up to now.
Midfielder Caffrey added: “We know we’re capable of putting in a strong, 90-minute display but the league is tight and the games are hectic.”
UCD are bottom yet snatched a point off leaders Bohs last Friday and Caffrey said: “We’re not going to disrespect the game.
“I know exactly what they're going through at the bottom, as I was there myself last year. But they always have a fighting spirit and we did it last year, staying up.
“So I know they’ll fight until the very end again and we know what to expect tonight.”
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