Sligo Rovers vs Drogheda United
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Sligo Rovers match against Drogheda United will be overshadowed by the looming deadline for the moneys owed by the club. Despite many pleas to their support, the club will fall short of the required amount unless they can find a last minute saviour. The players however can only help out by focusing on matters on the pitch.
Last week, Rovers went down to St Patrick’s Athletic, and manager Paul Cooke will be hoping his side can get the better of current Champions Drogheda United. He will be boosted by the return of Danny Ventre from suspension, but Steve Feeney is out having only returned from six weeks out. Matthew Judge is also sidelined.
Drogheda United will travel to Sligo Rovers trying to push their way into contention for a UEFA Cup spot.
United, who lost 2-0 to Bohemians in a midweek league tie, have fitness doubts over attacking midfield pair Shane Barrett and Richie Baker, while Dan Connor remains absent with a hip injury. Manager Paul Doolin will have to wait and see if either player can prove their fitness. "We're not sure about Shane or Richie yet, not 100%. But we'll see how they go tomorrow (Friday) and Saturday, before making a decision on them."
With Stuart Byrne out, Brian Shelley is likely to revert to his preferred right-back position, with Shaun Maher, Graham Gartland and John Tambouras fighting it out for the two centre-back positions. Joe Kendrick is likely to continue on the left.
The midweek defeat to Bohs has left the Drogs a full 23 points behind the league leaders. Doolin feels it was a definite improvement on their FAI Cup defeat the previous week. "We started a lot better and matched them for the early spell - there wasn't much in it. But they probably should have scored before they did, they had a good chance. Their two goals, we didn't defend well, and we were punished." He also admits that his side have conceded too many soft goals. "People speak about he goals scored, but for me, we're conceding too many goals, goals we wouldn't have conceded last year. We had a settled back five last year, something we haven't had for long spells this year."
Regarding this season, the United boss believes that the aim must be a high league finish. "We have to go about our business and get as many points as we can, starting on Saturday. Our aim has to be to get back in a position to qualify for Europe. I can't fault the players, they've been brilliant for this club for the past few years. Every club has dips in form, bad spells. It's easy when you're winning and everything is going your way, but it's harder when you're going through a bad patch, we have to work through it. For whatever reason, it's just not there for us at the moment. But we'll finish the season out the very best we can, hopefully qualifying for Europe, and look to next year."
