Keith Treacy pinpoints FAI Cup final's key tactical battle

When Derry City last won the Extra.ie FAI Cup back in 2012, it went all the way to extra time before they overcame St Patrick's Athletic.

In the nine finals since then, six have also gone at least 120 minutes, with three of those going to the further lottery of penalties.

The trend of a long epic followed by a shootout has only been increasing with that trio of games all coming in the last five editions of the competition.

It's an outcome former Republic of Ireland, Drogheda United and St Patrick's Athletic midfielder Keith Treacy is tipping to happen this Sunday when Derry and Shelbourne lock horns (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).

But when it comes to the tactical battle, the expectation from Treacy that much will be decided by how the contest on the flanks fares.

"I think the key battles will be the wing-backs for Shelbourne," he told this week's RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

"It will be all about how adventurous Shelbourne will want to be. If they want to play a flat back five, they're going to invite a lot of pressure.

"With the flat back five, it gives up an awful lot of space on the wings. So (Derry) can get the ball out wide and cross it really early, a bit like the De Bruyne position. He's always in that position and always trying to get it behind the back five for Haaland.

"You leave yourself open if you're going to play a back five. If the two wing-backs come up the pitch 10-15 yards to maybe come into midfield, to be a little bit more attacking, that's when the spaces come down the side of