Dundalk travel to Tallaght

Dundalk travel to Tallaght Stadium tonight to take on SSE Airtricity League Premier Division champions Shamrock Rovers. Kick-off at 7.45pm. The Lilywhites return to the south Dublin venue for the first time since their 1-1 draw against the Hoops from the opening night of the season.

Dundalk’s eight-game home clean sheet record breaking streak came to an end last Friday when they lost 2-0 to Waterford. The Lilywhites are currently in ninth place in the league standings three points clear of bottom placed Drogheda United.

Jon Daly’s men are six points behind eighth placed Bohemians who have two games in hand on the Louth side. Both sides last faced each other in May when Dundalk secured a crucial victory over Rovers at Oriel Park thanks to an injury time goal by John Mountney. Rovers’ recent home form has been inconsistent, as they have won one, drawn one, and lost two of their previous four games.  

In team news, new signings Scott McGill, Bobby Faulkner, Hayden Cann, Jad Hakiki and Norman Garbett are hoping to be involved but Andy Boyle and Jamie Gullan are doubtful while Dara Keane is injured.  On-loan Zak Johnson plays his final game for the club before returning to Sunderland.

Speaking ahead of the game, manager Daly said: “We were disappointed with the result against Waterford. The goals we conceded were sloppy and poor on our part.

“I’m sure Waterford will look at it from their point of view as a really good transition from the corner, and then the free kick they won, they managed to stick it away.

“From my point of view, they were two avoidable goals. Ultimately, Waterford put the ball in our net twice, which is what the game is about. We had some good opportunities.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily down to our strikers to be the ones to go and score. Other players are getting opportunities as well that need to have that concentration.

“There are positives there. If you’re not creating opportunities and you’re not looking like a threat going forward, then you would worry a little bit more.

“I was very disappointed not to come away with anything out of the game, but sometimes you don’t get what you deserve in football. I don’t think playing Rovers at any time is a good time, especially away. They’re a good side.

“They’ll be disappointed with the result in Sligo, I was disappointed with it as well because I would have liked them to get three points to keep Sligo a little bit closer to us.

“But I do think it just highlights to us how important it was to beat Sligo here before the break. Again, it tells me that the league is really, really competitive, and if you’re not at it for whatever reason, you can come out the wrong side of a result.

“We must go to Tallaght fully focused, we’re on our game, and if they’re not on their game, we make sure that we punish them. It will be a tough game, I’m well aware of how good they are, they’ve got a lot of players back now, so they’re nearly back to full strength.

“There will be a lot of people writing them off, but there’s still plenty of football left to play, and I’m sure there will be loads of twists and turns before the end of the season.”

On loan defender Zak Johnson, who returns to his parent club Sunderland after the game at Tallaght added: “I just want to say a massive thank you to the fans. They have supported me my whole time here.

“Dundalk is a place I’ll never forget. I think it’s a huge learning curve for me going forward. Dundalk have a massive part to play, however high I get and achieve.

“I’m gutted for the lads that I couldn’t end on a high at Oriel Park last week, but we’ve got Shamrock Rovers to look forward to on Thursday, so hopefully we can put it right there in my last game.

“Our last game against Rovers, where we beat them 1-0 at Oriel through John Mountney in the last minute, I think that’s the standout moment. There was a lot of pressure on us in that game and up until the 90th minute I think there were eight points between us and Drogheda.

“At the end of that game, we closed the gap to three, which was huge for us. I feel like that’s probably the most standout moment, but every moment has been unbelievable, every clean sheet I’ve got has always felt special. The feeling has never gotten dull, I’ve always loved it. I’m going to miss Dundalk.”