20.00 25 Jul 2014 -
Referee: Graham Kelly
League Preview: Shamrock Rovers -v- Drogheda United
- Josh Dolan
- Fri, Jul 25 2014
SHAMROCK ROVERS
The Hoops come into this one having beaten Cork City 2-0 in the quarter finals of The EA Sports Cup, on Monday, while The Hoops also achieved an impressive 3-0 victory over Bray, at The Carlisle grounds, in the league last Friday. Hoops manager, Trevor Croly expects his side to be brimming with confidence following impressive results in recent weeks.
“Confidence should be high in the team with getting the win last week and defeating Cork earlier in the week in the EA Sports Cup,” Croly exclaimed.
Croly acknowledges that his side are entering the vital part of their season , and insists that the boys in green and white will be going all out for a win in Tallaght, on Friday.
“It’s a home game for us so we’ll certainly be going out to try and win the game and get the three points, as we do in every game. This is a vital part of the season, with the end of the second round of games coming up,” The Hoops boss said.
A win for Rovers and a victory for arch rivals, Bohemians against second place Cork would put The Hoops just three points behind The Rebels and top of the table Dundalk, who play Bray on Sunday.
Rovers are without defender Rob Cornwall who has a hamstring injury, Barry Murphy is a doubt with a foot injury, while Stephen McPhail faces the final game of his suspension that he received for his confrontation with Killian Brennan during The Hoops 2-1 win against St Pat’s earlier on this month.
DROGHEDA UNITED
Darius Kierans will remain in temporary charge of The Drogs for Saturday’s trip to Tallaght. Ex-Linfield boss, David Jeffries has been frantically linked with the United park post in the last fortnight, however nothing has come to fruition and Kierans will once again lead the boys in claret and blue on Friday night.
St Pats’ first leg fixture with Legia Warsaw, in Poland last week meant United were idle of a domestic fixture last weekend, however Kierans insists that squad were kept sharp with friendly affairs against Warren point of Northern Ireland and MK Dons of the English Football league.
“We didn’t have a league fixture last week so that gave us the opportunity to play a couple of friendlies against some strong opposition, particularly MK Dons,” Kierans explained.
Kierans admitted that the performances and portrayal of discipline in the respective friendlies were exciting to watch.
“I thought that the performance in that game was another step forward from the Cork match as we showed great discipline and the finishing touch to get the win,” Kierans added.
The Drogs boss admits that he’s looking forward to Friday’s trip to Tallaght stadium, and while he’s aware of the abundance of quality that Trevor Croly’s charges possess he believes that if his troops can catch Rovers cold, and fire early on that his side can achieve a positive result in the capital.
“Rovers are up there challenging for the title and only six points off the top which tells you that they have a lot of quality and depth at their disposal. I’m sure Rovers will see this game as a chance to close the gap on the teams above them but confidence is growing within our side with each passing game so we will go there with no fear. If we score first, it becomes a different game and the onus will be on them,” The man in the United park hot seat concluded.
Stephen Maher and Paul Andrews will both miss the trip to Tallaght through respective suspensions, while central midfielder Paul Crowley is a slight to doubt for Friday’s game.
Referee: Graham Kelly.
MATCH STATS
The last time Drogheda beat Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght was the 2012 EA Sports Cup final in which United won 3-1.
Drogheda have never won a league game at Tallaght stadium.
The last time Graham Kelly took charge of a United league game they were 1-0 winners down in Limerick, while the last time Kelly took a Rovers league game they were 1-0 victors at home to Sligo.
BETTING
Shamrocks Rovers 1/3; Draw 7/2; Drogheda United 8/1
PREDICTION
Shamrock Rovers 2-1 Drogheda United
Shamrock Rovers
Injured: Rob Cornwall (Hamstring).
Doubtful: Barry Murphy (Foot).
Suspended: Stephen McPhaill.
Drogheda United
Injured: None.
Doubtful: Paul Crowley.
Suspended: Paul Andrews, Stephen Maher.
About Josh Dolan
Josh Dolan is one of our Dublin based reporters, who also helps out with Extratime.ie’s administration tasks.
Josh, who was recommended to us by fellow reporters, joined the site as a teenager …