League Preview: Longford Town -v- Dundalk

LONGFORD TOWN

Town haven’t won a league game since the opening weekend when they defeated Wexford Youths 2-0 at Ferrycarrig Park.

Since then they’ve lost four and drawn one, meaning that a win over league leaders Dundalk would be a major surprise this Saturday night.

Tony Cousins’ side have had a week to forget, losing to Bohemians in Dublin last Friday night with their former star Ayman Ben Mohamed inflicting major damage upon the midlands club.

 Monday evening’s defeat after 120 minutes by Wexford in the Leinster Senior Cup compounded their week’s misery.

They’ll be keen to stop their three match losing streak in all competitions, but their record against the Lilywhites last season will not fill Town fans with much optimism.

Although, they frustrated the champions in each of their four games with their solid and concise defensive displays, they lost three of the meetings and failed to score a goal in any of the games between the two.

Ahead of the game, Cousins bemoaned the unavailability of some of his key players which has led to their poor form, however, he remains optimistic that they can get out of their early season rut.

“It’s been a difficult time for us with suspensions and injuries but we are starting to see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. We feel that if we get our strongest panel back that we can put some wins together.”

Their excellent sixth placed league finish and FAI Cup semi-final place last season had much to do with the prolific goal scoring exploits of striker Gary Shaw, now with Shamrock Rovers.

However, Cousins sees signs that his new strike pairing of Josh O’Hanlon and David O’Sullivan are beginning to click.

“I’m really happy with the two front men. It’s a new partnership, but you can see with every game that they are starting to link up a little bit better and they’re a threat. I’ve no doubt that the two of them will score goals.”

DUNDALK FC

Inconsistent is something that Stephen Kenny’s men have been labelled this season. Having obliterated the majority of those who stood in their way over the past two seasons, they’ve been caught at home by Cork City and Derry City over the course of the past month.

Goalkeeper Gary Rogers expressed his disappointment at their dropped points last weekend when entertaining Derry at Oriel Park, but is looking forward to his sides trip to the City Calling Stadium tomorrow night.

“It’s a good game to bounce back into against Longford Town because they are a good side and it’s a difficult place to go to at any stage and Saturday will be no different. We have to go and bounce back ourselves.

“We want to win every week, we want to get three points on the board and we’ll go there in a positive mind set to try and win the game.”

It would be hard to pick on any other team in the league if they’d achieved 13 points from their opening six league encounters, however, such is the standard that this seemingly infallible Lilywhites side have set for themselves that their apparent blip is being viewed as the beginning of the end for the Lilywhites.

If their home form has been questionable, their away form has been far from it. Unbeaten on the road so far with a 100% record, Kenny’s men were irresistible during their 4-0 throttling of St. Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park on Holy Thursday evening.

Manager Stephen Kenny is keen to add to their flawless early season form on the road and defy the critics.

Kenny said: “We have a 100% record away from home this season. We have had three straight away wins in Bray, Wexford and Inchicore. Three great away wins and we have to take that into this weekend.”

Referee: Graham Kelly

MATCH STATS

Longford and Dundalk played each other on four occasions last season. Dundalk won three of the four meetings (1-0, 2-0, 0-0 & 2-0), with Longford failing to register a goal in any of the games.

Former Dundalk defender Mark Rossiter is likely to line-up against the club with which he secured a league winners medal with in 2014. Dundalk have gotten no former Longford players in their squad, however, both Stephen Kenny and his assistant Vinny Perth were part of the club in managerial and playing capacities during their golden era in the late nineties.

There has never been a scoreless draw between these sides at the City Calling Stadium.

PREDICTION

Longford Town 0-2 Dundalk FC

BETTING

Longford Town 10/1;Draw 4/1;Dundalk FC 2/7.

Longford Town

Injured: Unknown

Doubtful: Unknown

Suspensions: None

Dundalk

Injured: Patrick McEleney, John Mountney.

Doubtful: Shane Grimes.

Suspensions: Chris Shields.