League Preview: Shelbourne -v- Dundalk

Duff, Doyle and O'Donnell on the line during the March clash between the Reds and the Lilywhites

Duff, Doyle and O'Donnell on the line during the March clash between the Reds and the Lilywhites Credit: Paul Dolan (ETPhotos)

SHELBOURNE

The Reds can move above Bohemians into fourth place on Friday night with a win over Dundalk (kick-off 7.45pm) as Bohs are in FAI Cup action over the weekend.

Victory would also create a four point gap over the Lilywhites with just three games remaining for those two teams after Friday's clash.

Fourth place, depending on who wins the FAI Cup, might be good enough to earn Damien Duff’s charges a place in Europe next season.

So it marks a big game for Shels according to their manager.

Duff, speaking to his club’s media team, said: “I think they’ve got better with coping with occasions, there’s no hiding, you can say it’s just another game, play the game in front of you, all the cliches but at the end of the day, it’s as big as they come.

“Four games left, win it and we go fourth, and there’s a real mentality shift with everyone, Dundalk, Bohs, us, it shifts the thinking for everyone. Three points tomorrow night would be massive.”

Having been unbeaten in the league since June, last week’s 1-0 loss to Shamrock Rovers was a blow to Shelbourne’s European ambitions and Duff will have to watch on from the stands after picking up a suspension for, according to the LOI suspension list issued by the FAI, ‘disparaging comments and/or actions’.

“We had a setback on Friday. We’ve said many times this season our lads are good at brushing off results. We went through the video on Monday of the Rovers game - our first half went well, second half it wasn’t us.

"We didn’t look after the ball as well as we could, looking back and taking stuff from the Rovers game, it was us looking at ourselves.



“What we learned from that is we need to bring 100 minutes tomorrow, we need to bring 400 minutes between now and the end of the season. We can’t let energy, concentration and emotional energy drop.

"It can cost you in this league. It’s a time to be on it, it’s a time to stand up, I am certain we will do it.”

“If we don’t have our edge, we’re not us, we’re not Shelbourne FC, we have to bring the fire, we have to be calm, clear and have ice in the veins, but that is nothing without fire and edge.

"I want lads to know it’s big and be up for it and we need to match what Dundalk bring, and to win it we need to bring more. They have real winners in the team, a great young manager.“

DUNDALK



The Lilywhites are looking for their third win in a row having beaten Drogheda United (3-1) and Cork City (5-0) both at home late last month. Stephen O’Donnell will hope that his team have turned a corner having lost their previous four league and cup matches prior to that demolition of the Leesiders.

Victory would seem them jump above Shelbourne and level on points with fourth placed Bohemians in the race for Europe.

“There’s an awful lot still to play for,” said Paul Doyle speaking with dundalkfc.com. “It’s all about taking it game by game and seeing how far down the stretch we can take it.

“There’s no point looking around at other scores or what other teams are doing. We just need to roll into Friday and see if we can turn Shels over away from home, which is a tough thing to do.

“They’re a good side, and they’re well organised, but if we go there and win, it goes on another week and that’s what we have to aim to do, to make it as competitive as we can down the stretch.

“They’re a good side with a lot of well-drilled, good players, so it should be a decent game.”

Referee: Eoghan O’Shea

MATCH STATS

The teams have met four times this season. The Lilywhites were victorious 2-1 at Oriel Park back in March in their first league clash. Shels won 4-0 in a Leinster Senior Cup tie at the same venue later that month. The two subsequent league matches both ended in 1-1 draws.

The last win for the Lilywhites at Tolka Park was in February 2020 in a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Andy Boyle and Patrick Hoban.

PREDICTION

1-1

Shelbourne

Injured: Matty Smith, Sean Boyd, JR Wilson, Andy Quinn, David Toure

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

Dundalk

Injured: John Mountney 

Doubtful: None

Suspended: None

About Macdara Ferris

Macdara Ferris is a contributor since 2007 to Hoops Scene (Shamrock Rovers' match day programme) and is the co-author of two books on Shamrock Rovers - 'Tallaght Time: Shamrock Rovers 2009 to 2012' (with Karl … View Full Profile