http://dundalkfc.com/news/090723_Drogheda.asp
Dundalk v Drogheda United
Friday July 24th
Oriel Park - 7.45
It's Louth Derby time again on Friday night in Oriel Park when Dundalk entertain Drogheda United (kick-off 7.45).Both sides will be highly motivated to win the three points so a cracker is in store for the Louth sporting public. Dundalk will be looking to go just five points behind (at least for a few days) fourth placed Derry City and ten points clear of the play-off places. Drogheda United wil be looking to get back to their good form before they lost 2-1 to Bray Wanderers last Friday night.
Team NewsDundalk have Michael Daly back in contention after missing the trip to Galway due to suspension. Dundalk have a number of injury concerns with Liam Burns (hamstring), Darren Mansaram (knee), Michael Collins (back), Tiarnan Mulvenna (knee) and Michael McGinlay (thigh strain) all battling to be fit in time.
Manager CommentsWriting in the Dundalk FC Magazine - Dundalk FC Manager Sean Connor stated: "We’re entering into this game under totally different circumstances than when we met Drogheda back in March. We went into that game on the back of two defeats, so there was a wee bit of tension trying to get our first win, but we’re on a very good run going into this one, so the circumstances have changed. We have also added five new players - Alex Williams, Kevin McKinlay, Michael McGowan, Peter Cherrie and Paul McAreavey - which has certainly given the squad a freshness, and although squad numbers are still at 17, what we have I think is 17 quality players and I think any one of the 17 players could be in the starting XI and it wouldn’t weaken the side, and that’s a position I love to be in."
Kelly Looking Forward To DerbyIn his column in the Dundalk FC Magazine - Dundalk right-back Shaun Kelly stated: "I can’t wait for this one. I think in the last one that we were unlucky getting Chris Turner sent off in the first half which kind of killed off the game, but hopefully this time it will be different. We’re on a good run now, winning five out of our last six games in all competitions, and we’ll be looking for another three points to follow up on last week’s good win at Galway United."
Drogs ViewDundalk welcome back many former players - many of whom played a big part in the club's promotion to the Premier Division last season. In an interview with the Dundalk FC Magazine - Paul Shiels stated: “This is the fourth time we’ve played Dundalk this year. The Malone Cup was a hectic game and there was a bit of fire in that one. If this was the first game since then, yes, you would like to go out and prove a point or whatever, but this is the fourth game and we have another one after this, so I think maybe we have forgotten about that, to be honest. We have all been around the league long enough to know that these things happen in football. We’ve all had three or four or five ex-clubs. Obviously, we would like to win and beat Dundalk up there, them being an ex-club, but I don’t think it’s an extra motivation at all. For us, we need three points to get out of the bottom three and that’s the main motivation for us, to be honest.”
Drogheda website preview:
http://www.droghedaunited.ie/fixtures/match/id/5963
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