Reds on the road again

Shelbourne can displace Longford Town at the top of the eircom League of Ireland First Division standings if they defeat Monaghan United at Kingspan Century Park this Good Friday evening (kick-off 8.00pm). The Reds recorded their opening win of the new season last weekend when overturning a half-time deficit away to Kildare County, with this fixture being the middle leg of three straight road trips for the club.

A win for Shels will see them shoot to the summit ahead of the meeting of the top two, Longford Town and Dundalk, at Flancare Park on Saturday night, providing that joint-top Waterford United aren’t victorious by more goals on their trip to Athlone. After drawing with nine-man Dundalk on the opening day, Shels secured their first win at Station Road with second-half goals from Damien Brennan, Anto Flood and David Freeman seeing them run out comfortable winners having looked in trouble at the break as they trailed 1-0.

Monaghan, on the other hand, suffered their first loss of the campaign last Thursday as they were easily beaten 3-0 by near neighbours Dundalk at Oriel Park. That loss came on the back of a narrow home win over Limerick 37 the previous week, with the return to Kingspan Century Park seen as their only chance of upsetting the odds here - against a Shels side widely tipped to challenge Dundalk and Waterford all the way for the First Division crown.

Team News: Monaghan will once again be without young midfielder Stephen Finnegan, who looks likely to spend the opening months of the season on the sidelines with a long-term injury. Elsewhere, the hosts should have a full squad to choose from. Shelbourne, meanwhile, have no suspension or injury worries, as ex-Mon Philly Hughes looks to get a first competitive start for his latest club.