19.45 22 May 2015 -
Referee:
League Preview: Drogheda United -v- Galway United
- Josh Dolan
- Thu, May 21 2015
DROGHEDA UNITED
Drogheda will be looking to avoid their third straight defeat when they entertain a buoyant Galway United side on Friday night.
The Boynesiders have been the victims of a fixture pileup recently, playing their last three fixtures in a period of just eight days.
Drogs boss Johnny McDonnell will be looking for a strong response from his squad following defeats to Cork City and Sligo Rovers in recent weeks.
"The three games in eight days certainly didn’t help us but it’s time to move on and look towards the Galway game,” a determined Johnny McDonnell said ahead of Friday's tie.
McDonnell has been slow to criticise his players in recent times, however the Dubliner has admitted that his defense needs work.
“We haven’t been defending properly in the last few weeks," the ex-Shels boss admitted.
"Crosses into the box seem to be causing us a lot of problems as very few teams have scored by playing through us this season.
"We’ve done a lot of drills this week to work on how to deal with crosses and hopefully we’ll start to see an improvement tomorrow night,” McDonnell furthered.
Galway, who have scored more goals than any other side outside the top two of the Premier Division will certainly be a threat to the Drogs rear-guard, so McDonnell's first port of call will be to keep the Tribesmen's chances in front of goal to a minimum.
“Galway have been scoring plenty of goals recently so I think keeping their front players quiet will be the key for us and ideally we’ll come away with a clean sheet," McDonnell concluded.
With Stephen Maher and Neil Yadolahi returning from injury and the news that Llyod Buckley has overcome a bout of the flu, Cathal Brady will be the only Drog to miss Friday night as he has a hamstring injury.
GALWAY UNITED
Tommy Dunne's Galway United will be travelling to Louth brimming with confidence, as they look to record their fourth win in a row against Drogheda United on Friday night.
The tribesmen have been in inspired form in front of goals in recent weeks, scoring a total of eight goals in their last three games.
"We've tried to go and attack games and be positive," United boss Dunne said ahead of Friday's trip.
Galway's recent positive run has been comprised of a league and cup win at home to high flying Bohemians and a win away to Peter Hutton's Derry City.
"Friday's league game against Bohemians was open, Monday's game was more cagey and measured. I was pleased with our performances in both games," Dunne explained the adaptive nature of his side.
As expected, Dunne revealed that his side are full of confidence heading into Friday night and believes that his side have what it takes to keep the run going.
"We're aiming to go again at United Park on Friday evening and keep our run going," the United manager finished up.
Kevin Garcia and Samuel Oji are both definitely out of the game as they continue to recover from injury; Killian Cantwell is close to a return after returning to full training this week and is likely to become available for selection next week. Andy O’Connell has suffered a setback in his bid to recover from an ankle injury and will be out for an indefinite period; while forward Enda Curran is a doubt with a hamstring injury.
Referee: Ben Connolly
MATCH STATS
Galway are the only team in the Premier Division that are yet to draw a league fixture this season.
The sides last met at United Park back in 2011 when a Tiarnan Mulvenna strike helped the Drogs to a 1-0 win.
Drogheda have failed to record a clean sheet in their last 13 home games.
BETTING
Drogheda United 7/4; Draw 9/4; Galway United 6/4.
PREDICTION
Drogheda United 1-2 Galway United
Drogheda United
Injured: Cathal Brady.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
Galway United
Injured: Killian Cantwell, Samuel Oji, Andy O'Connell, Kevin Garcia.
Doubtful: Enda Curran.
Suspended: None.
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 …