FINN Harps have been dealt a significant blow in advance of their SSE Airtricity League Premier Division match away to Drogheda United this evening.
Midfielder Mark Coyle - who has consistently impressed this season - is out through suspension, so Tony McNamee might get a rare start alongside his brother Barry.
Drogheda, who lifted the Division One title in 2020 and got promoted, have surprised many people this season and currently lie fifth in the table.
But Harps boss Ollie Horgan knew from the beginning of the campaign that the Louth team would more than hold their own.
“They might be the team who came up but they’ve Premier Division experience. We played them and scraped past them in play-offs before but what they’ve done now is added experience to those good young players,” he said.
The sides drew 1-1 at Head in the Game Park in March while in their last meeting, in Ballybofey, the visitors won 1-0.
A key factor in Drogheda’s decent form has been their twin strikeforce of Chris Lyons and Mark Doyle who have scored 15 goals between them.
Drogheda boss Tim Clancy told extratime.com that “The objective from the very start was to stay in the league.”
He added: “We are only at the halfway point now but to get 26 points from 18 games is a great return for us. We are ahead of what we wanted, expected and hoped for and we will try and keep that going.”
In their last outing, Drogheda picked up a point from their trip to champions Shamrock Rovers.
Harps’ leading goalscorer, Adam Foley, lives just 15 minutes from Drogheda so this is the shortest trip that he will make this year.
The former Glenavon man scored for Harps in their last away game, against St Patrick’s Athletic, and will once again lead the attack with Belgian striker Tunde Owolabi set to partner him again, having shone in last week’s 1-1 draw with Longford Town.
Over the past few years, Harps have kicked on in the second half of the season, and have always brought in a few additional players during the summer transfer window.
There may well be less movement this time around, but Horgan feels that his squad is still the strongest it has been since he took charge.
“We’ve a bigger squad this year and we need it,” he noted.
“Drogheda is the focus now and although we’ve been unlucky of late in ways with a few things, we can’t hide behind that. We have half a season to try and sort it.”
Captain Dave Webster is still injured while Ryan Connolly is also a doubt.
