After four successive away games, Dundalk are back on home ground on Friday night when Shelbourne visit Casey’s Field for a game that will be televised live on RTE2.
Stephen O’Donnell’s men will be looking to bounce back from successive league defeats to Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers which has resulted in them dropping to third in the SSE Airtricity League table on goal difference from Derry City.
Sandwiched in between those losses was an extra-time win over Wexford FC which secured Dundalk’s place in the quarter-finals of the Extra.ie FAI Cup for the eighth year in succession. An away tie with Waterford was the outcome of Tuesday’s last-eight draw.
The Lilywhites head coach will have to plan without the services of Darragh Leahy for Friday night’s clash with Damien Duff’s Shels. The full-back will serve a one-game ban after his red card against Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds on Monday night.
You can read O’Donnell’s pre-match thoughts below.
On Shelbourne…
“We’ve had two draws against them at Tolka Park and John Martin scored with a last-minute goal in the game here earlier in the season. They were very competitive against Derry on Monday night and they are very competitive in all of their games. They have a great team spirit and it’s going to be a tough game but one we are really looking forward to.”
On being back at home…
“We’re looking forward to being back in front of our home crowd at Casey’s Field. We’ve had a tough week with two away games in Wexford and Sligo but we are looking forward to getting back on the horse on Friday. It seems like a long time ago since we played our last home game against Derry City. We were excellent that night so we need to get back up to those levels and we are more than capable of doing that.”
On staying positive…
“The mood is good in the camp. We take things in isolation. Obviously, people will be looking at two league defeats in our last two games but I was very happy with lots of things in those matches. Against Shamrock Rovers, we gave up some sloppy goals and in Sligo on Monday night the game shaped itself after having a man sent off after 25 minutes. The players’ attitude and desire to try and get a result was brilliant. The Wexford performance was sub-par but apart from that, we have been good. We’re under no illusions, when we were on a good run, we knew we weren’t the finished article and we’re the same now. We have good professionals and lads who are willing to improve and I know we will.”
On his squad…
“It’s starting to look a bit fuller now. Even though they weren’t realistically available for selection, the likes of Paul Doyle and Brian Gartland were on the bench in Sligo and it’s great for the mindset of the other players to see a full bench and good quality. After the Shels game, we’ll have a bit more of a calmer time in that we play one game a week which will give us more time to prepare for games and time for lads to come back. It’s been a bit scratchy with injuries and suspensions over the past few weeks. Obviously, Darragh Leahy will be suspended on Friday but hopefully, for the UCD game we’ll be looking a lot healthier going forward.”
