Congratulations to Ian and Portia Foster on the birth of their first child - Jude, a baby boy!

Ian was finalising pre-season arrangements in Dundalk when he got the news of the impending arrival and made the urgent cross-channel dash to be present at the birth. He will spend the next number of days with Portia and Jude before returning to Dundalk to continue with squad preparations.

Wayne Hatswell has taken sole charge of pre-season training this week, until Ian Foster returns.About 20 players took part in Wayne Hatswells first pre-season training session. Peter Cherrie was excused from the session as he remains in the UK this week because of personal commitments and is expected next week. A number of trialists with League of Ireland experience joined the session along with some players from last years squad, including Michael Synnott and Michael Coburn