Preview: Drogheda Utd vs Shamrock Rovers

League Champions Drogheda United take on Shamrock Rovers in Saturday’s opener with two good competitive matches against Cliftonville and Stockport County under their belts and a few injury worries.

The Drogs’ close season signings - from Shaun Maher to Ibrahima Thiam Iyane - have given the squad strength and quality in depth and cover in every position – and the hope is that the injury crisis of last season will not be repeated. While Sean Prunty’s medical diagnosis came as a shock to all concerned, the important thing is that it was found at an early stage and the FAI are to be commended in implementing the UEFA Medical examination of players Regulations.

On the Drogs current injuries: Shane Barrett has fully recovered from last year's serious injury- got the all clear from his consultant but pulled hamstring in training, so he's out for a week. Jason Gavin has a medial ligament strain and is out of contention as is Shaun Maher with an Achilles tendon problem. Captain Declan ‘Fabio’ O’Brien is approaching full fitness. Dan Connor is unavailable, but in Mikko Vilmunen and Jamie Ewings, the Drogs have two very capable ‘keepers.

The friendly on Tuesday against Stockport proved a good workout for the squad and close-season signing Adam Hughes improved as the match went on. The central midfield spots will have plenty of contenders this season with Shane Robinson, Adam Hughes, Stuart Byrne and Paul Keegan all contending for two spots.

Boss Paul Doolin will be looking forward to putting pre-season behind him and concentrating on the league campaign: “The pre-season has flown in, it seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the league win. But we have to put that behind us and remember that that’s in the past. We’re hungry for more this year. They say it’s hard to retain the title, but I think we’ve strengthened the squad on last season and we’re ready for the challenge.”

Aidan O’Keeffe scored a stunning goal on Tuesday and will come into contention for a starting place up front along with Eamon Zayed, Guy Bates and Tony Grant. It will probably take a couple of weeks before Paul Doolin knows what his best line-up is, but one thing is for certain, the Drogs’ professional approach in all matters will make them the team to beat this season.

Meanwhile Shamrock will have a full strength squad to choose from, and Pat Scully is pleased to have all players fit to play.

“It’s a huge improvement on last season,” says a happy Hoops’ boss, Pat Scully. “It’ll be a while before Aidan and Padraig are back, but otherwise we’re fine.

“Dessie Baker and Dave Tyrrell both have slight knocks but should be okay, and it looks as though Tadhg Purcell will be available even though he didn’t play pre-season.

“Tadhg started back training three week ago, we’ve been very careful with him, and he looks really sharp this week and should feature in the squad for the Drogheda game.”

Pat Scully is looking forward to taking on the League Champions for their first game of the season.

“This is a great game for us. There’ll be a full house, the game is live on RTE, the atmosphere will be intense. We always bring a big crowd and they’ll make plenty of noise.

“I like going to United Park. I know Drogheda are planning to move to a new stadium in the next couple of years but I like the atmosphere there, it’s nice and compact.”