Derry City v Dundalk FC: Preview

Following last week’s postponement at Tallaght Stadium, Dundalk FC belatedly begin their League of Ireland Premier Division campaign on Friday evening with a trip to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium to take on Derry City.

"No Fear"

Speaking ahead of the match, Dundalk manager Ciaran Kilduff stated that his team are excited at the prospect of getting the season off to a good start against one of the main title favourites: "We are excited to test ourselves on Friday night against Derry City. They are obviously a team that we have a lot of respect for. We see the investment made, with James McClean and other top players arriving, and it is a real statement of intent.  But we don’t fear any team in this division and we are going to back ourselves as we always do."

"Derry got off to a good start with three points at home to Sligo Rovers while we were a bit deflated following the postponement of our match with Shamrock Rovers. Anticipation is building now and we want to make a good account of ourselves. The stage is set for a great game. We have trained and prepared well and we are hopeful that it will all come together. The staff and players are ready to go and we are looking forward to kickstarting our season on Friday night.”

"We are in this division to compete"

Striker Gbemi Arubi also revealed that the team are in a confident frame of mind ahead of the match: ""From the perspective of the players, coaches and staff, we are in this division to compete. Everyone has a positive outlook going into the season. We want to push as high up the table as possible.”

Team News

Dundalk are set to be without Leo Gaxha who is making good progress in his return from injury. TJ Molloy and Sean Spaight are on international duty in Spain, while Harvey Warren is suspended after receiving a red card in last season's play-off final. Norman Garbett also faces a late fitness test. On the positive side, new signing Tyreke Wilson is in the squad for the match.

Derry Team News

Derry City manager Tiernan Lynch told derrycityfc.net that: “We can’t get carried away with the start we’ve had. It’s great to have a trophy in the cabinet and three points on the board, but Dundalk are a different challenge entirely. They are coming here with the hunger of a newly promoted side and they’ll be organised. We have to match their work rate and let our quality take over.”

Match Officials

Referee: Declan Toland

Assistant Referees: Darragh Keegan, Niall McLoughlin

Fourth Official: Michael Connolly

Match Tickets

Tickets are available. Note: Tickets are available until 11am on Friday morning. here>>

LOITV

For those not travelling - the match is live on LOITV. Subscribe here>>

Match Information

Dundalk fans making the trip are asked to read the information we shared here>>