PREVIEW: Dundalk vs Monaghan Utd
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(Oriel Park, Thursday 13 March, 7.45pm)
Local rivals Dundalk and Monaghan United go head-to-head at Oriel Park this Thursday evening (kick-off 7.45pm), with a clear place at the top of the eircom League of Ireland First Division standings up for grabs.
The Lilywhites kicked-off their season with a scoreless draw away to title rivals Shelbourne last weekend, while their near neighbours currently sit jointly at the summit with Longford Town and Waterford United, after inflicting a 1-0 defeat on Limerick 37 at home last Friday.
Monaghan, however, haven’t won at the Louth venue since 2004, and central defender Ian Ryan, who is likely to be recalled to the starting XI, knows that Dundalk must continue their good home record against United, after getting the league off to a positive start at Shels.
“Obviously, it was a good result against Shels given the circumstances,” said Ryan when speaking to extratime.ie ahead of the game. “Going there, we were looking to get the three points, but with the way the game panned out, we would have settled for a point.
“Overall, we were happy with the draw, and now we have to go and build on that on Thursday, or otherwise that point last week will be of no benefit to us. Monaghan will be another tough one. It will be a different game - we’ll get a bit more of the ball and we’ll attack more, but it’s going to be a difficult game.”
Team News: Dundalk are without both goalkeeper Chris Bennion and captain Aidan Lynch, who are ruled out through one-match suspensions. Right-back John Flanagan (calf) and centre-half Ben Whelehan (ankle) are also struggling for fitness, leaving manager John Gill with a number of defensive worries ahead of this clash. Monaghan have no such problems and make the short trip south with a full squad to choose from, apart from long-term absentee, Stephen Finnegan.
