League Preview: St. Patrick’s Athletic -v- Drogheda United

ST. PATRICK’S ATHLETIC

The Saints will move above Derry City into second place and just three points behind Shamrock Rovers with five games to go should they defeat Drogheda United in their game in hand on those two clubs on Monday (kick-off 7.45pm).

Pats won on Friday against Dundalk 3-1 in Richmond Park thanks to a brace from Tommy Lonergan and Mason Melia’s penalty in the eighth minute of injury time at the end of the game.

"It's another difficult game,” said Saints boss Jon Daly about Monday’s match when speaking to his club’s media team.

“There's no easy games in this league. We're going to have to do our homework, as all of our energy has gone into the game against Dundalk.

“I never look too far ahead. It's difficult having a Friday game and then a Monday game, so I'll be spending a lot of time watching them and putting a game plan in place for Monday.

“It's an exciting time of the season. We knew the game against Dundalk was going to be a big three points if we could get them. We managed to do that and we're delighted with that.

Saints skipper Joe Redmond speaking about the match said: We're really looking forward to the game against Drogheda. We'll assess how we can improve our performance against Dundalk and we'll go into that game fully focused and be ready for Monday."

“There's a buzz when you're coming in and all the fans are there. They were excellent against Dundalk, they came out in their numbers and we're definitely going to need them towards the end of the season in the run-in.”

The run-in will include hosting Shamrock Rovers in the penultimate game of the season but Redmond isn’t looking that far ahead.

“We're all pushing each other every day at the moment, but the focus has to be on the next game. If you get carried away in this league, you can fall off very easily.

DROGHEDA UNITED

The Boynesiders lost the first two meetings between the sides this season, with Pats winning 3-1 at Weavers Park in April, and 3-0 at Richmond Park in May.

However, when the sides last met at Weavers Park in June, it was a 2-1 win for the home team. Adam Foley gave them an 18th minute lead before a penalty from Chris Forrester just before the break levelled the affair.

Dayle Rooney scored an injury time winner.

Last time out Drogheda drew 0-0 with Bohemians in Louth last Friday, having lost 3-1 in the FAI Cup quarter-final to the same Dublin opponent a week previous.

Referee: David Dunne

MATCH STATS

Chris Forrester with 12 goals is the top of the league’s goalscoring charts along with Cork City’s Ruairi Keating.

Freddie Draper remains top scorer for the Drogs with eight goals even though he left the club in June. Adam Foley has seven league goals.

The Athletic has four wins and one loss from their last five league games against the Boynesiders.

PREDICTION

1-0 home win

St. Patrick’s Athletic

Injured: Tom Grivosti

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Drogheda United

Injured: Dylan Grimes, Aaron McNally

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Andy Myler on his UCD managerial departure: ‘I can't combine the day job with it any more and keep all the plates in the air’ https://t.co/2pUSubRls6pic.twitter.com/wbFy8G4gjF

— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) September 24, 2023