League Preview: Shamrock Rovers -v- Longford Town

SHAMROCK ROVERS  

The Hoops come into Sunday afternoon’s game against Longford Town (kick-off 3pm) in good form having won five in a row in all competitions.

Their last victory came on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League Conference League third qualifying round tie against Teuta when a late goal from 17-year-old Aidomo Emakhu earned Rovers their second win from three games in Europe this season. 

“It's a fantastic night for him,” said Hoops Head Coach Stephen Bradley speaking about Emakhu who became the youngest ever goalscorer for Rovers in Europe.

“I'm sure he's dreamt about nights like that. He's been great since he's been in with the first team, his attitude has been brilliant. He's kept his head down and he works hard. He wants to learn and it's important to have those qualities”

“I think Aidomo has really become a part of the first team squad in the last few months and I think you saw that with the reaction of his teammates for the goal. They're obviously happy that it gives us a 1-0 lead in the game, but you can see the delight in their face for Aidomo. They all recognised how special it was for him, being such a young kid, coming on and doing that.”

The Albanian champions looked to frustrate the Hoops throughout the game by deploying a blanket defence. They only attempted one shot during the game compared with Rovers’ 13 but one of those late efforts gave the Hoops the important win. 

“There was definitely a bit of relief,” said Bradley about the late goal. “It was another good European win for the group which is really important. We had to wait very late, and we had to be so patient in the game, in terms of how they set up and how they played, and how negative they were towards the game.

“It was an extremely negative performance from them. They have the right to play how they like but it's just really surprising when you're in the third round of a European competition and that's what you face. But we managed to break it down in the end and it's something that we must learn from as a group.”

It was another later Rovers goal like they have done twice this season when the Hoops have broken the Longford hearts in injury time. Sean Gannon (who is suspended on Sunday) got a 93^rd minute winner in Tallaght while Rory Gaffney scored even later in Bishopsgate back in late May. 

“We never stop believing and the way we play helps us with that because it wears teams down and it only takes a split second for them to switch off and we're in. We never stop believing that we're going to score a goal and thankfully that was the case on Thursday.”

“I'm expecting something very similar (on Sunday) to what we've had in the last two games that we've played them. It'll be a difficult game, they'll come with a game plan, and we've got to be ready for that and respect that. I'm sure we will because we know how important tomorrow is and how important three points is, so we'll be fully focused for whatever Longford bring.

“We're at our best when we're playing games regularly and if we want to go and retain our title we've got to go and make sure that we're ready for these games.”

LONGFORD TOWN

When Longford last played the Hoops in Tallaght back in April they were seeking their second win of the season and four months later as they make the trek to Tallaght Stadium that is still the case.

Having won their opening Premier Division game of the season against Derry City, they have played 21 league matches without a win – losing 13. 

When the team last met, De Town felt hard done by not to least to get a point before Rovers struck in the fifth minute of injury time in Bishopsgate.

In that game in May, Rovers were missing Sean Kavanagh, Neil Farrugia, Joey O’Brien, Ronan Finn and Dylan Watts and with all those players back for the Hoops (bar Farrugia), it is a tough task that awaits them in Tallaght where they never won in Premier Division action. 

You have to go back to 2007 for De Town’s last league win over Rovers' first team.

Daire Doyle’s men are propping up the Premier Division table and, ahead of Saturday evening’s Sligo Rovers and Finn Harps game, are nine points behind Harps above them in the table.

He is missing four players for this match with an ankle injury ruling Dean Byrne out while hamstring issues means Shane Elworthy is unavailable. Dean Williams and Darragh Nugent are on loan from Rovers and the structure of that loan deal means neither can play in this fixture.

Referee: Adriano Reale

MATCH STATS

Longford’s most recent win over Rovers was an EA Sports Cup second round clash in Tallaght in April 2018. Daniel O’Reilly got the only goal of the game that day. 

Longford left Tallaght Stadium feeling hard done by when they last met the Hoops. Having taken a seven minute lead through Dylan Grimes, Rovers equalised through Graham Burke on 54 minutes and three minutes into injury Sean Gannon got the winner.

PREDICTION
2-0 home win

Shamrock Rovers 

Injured:  Neil Farrugia

Doubtful:  None

Suspended: Sean Gannon

Longford Town

Injured: Dean Byrne, Shane Elworthy

Unavailable due to loan arrangement: Dean Williams, Darragh Nugent

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

League Report: Waterford 1 - 0 Bohemians https://t.co/LCU4U9vTSGpic.twitter.com/kVf4XIiijV

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