The Champions Shelbourne take on League of Ireland leaders Drogheda United in the pick of the action on Good Friday. (7:45pm // Virgin Media)
The Reds are looking to continue a strong recent run of performances which culminated in last Friday’s Dublin Derby win over Bohs.
Shels boss Damien Duff delivered a squad update on Thursday evening: “Brilliant training week. A normal lead-in to the double header. We are not expecting any of the long-term injuries back involved tomorrow. Sean Boyd has been sick all week, there’s only a 1% chance he makes the bench.”
Following the intensity of last week’s Dublin Derby, Duff feels games with Drogheda in the past have come very close to replicating the feel of those fixtures:
“There’s always been an edge to this fixture, for different reasons over the years. In the past, it was maybe because of the number of ex-Shels players involved. Now, the edge is purely footballing, they’re a bloody good team, they won an FAI Cup, and they have quality in every position, there’s a real edge to this game, and everyone feels it, I think it’s great.”
This will be the third meeting between the sides in 2025, the Reds won the President’s Cup in the curtain raiser at Tolka, while Drogs took bragging rights from the league meeting in Tolka in round one. Reflecting on that defeat, Shels only one of the season, Duff said:
“The standout learning from the game is that possession doesn’t win you matches. If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. We conceded after three minutes, and while you think there’s still 95 minutes to play, you’ve already given them something to hold onto, and they will hold onto it. The most admirable thing about them is how hard they work for each other, and that’s why they’re getting results.
“Combine that work rate with quality, and you’ve got a seriously good team. There are a lot of similarities between ourselves last year and Drogheda this year. Teams disrespect them, just like they did to us. We had it done to us, we know all about it, we won’t be doing it to them. They deserve respect, top of the table, hell of a good team, I don’t know how some don’t give them due credit, but trust me, we will.”
The clear message this week, don’t repeat the same mistakes: “There can be no slow starts, that won’t be acceptable. It’s probably the hardest away ground in the country to play football, for a couple of reasons. We can’t afford to start slow. We know the importance of these game, we’ve spoken many times before about Friday-Mondays. Matches like this, results over a 7 day period, can go a long way in shaping a season.”
Duff has urged his players to replicate the consistency levels that led them to the top last season: “I told them on Monday, if you take a weekend off, you can find yourself off the pace. Whether it’s as an individual or as a team, taking a week off can leave you very far behind very quickly. But I’m not worried about that, you can feel how motivated and ready they are. The players over the last few weeks have shown it. Some people might point to injuries, lot of lads out, but this is a squad full of senior players who can go out and pick up a lot of points over the next few rounds of games.”
Easter Monday sees Galway United visit Tolka Park, Duff has full focus on the task at hand tomorrow night, but admits changes will be made. He urged players keen to get more minutes to show the reason why on the pitch:
“I’ve no doubt lads will want to make an impression, we already have a team in mind for Galway. Obviously, fitness and illness will have a say in that. Like I always tell the players if you feel you should be playing more minutes, if you’re frustrated, take your frustration out on me, but do it on the pitch.”