Drogheda United are assessing the fitness of centre-halves Conor Keeley and James Bolger and striker Warren Davis ahead of a home Premier Division match against Waterford. Keeley and Bolger missed the Louth derby that finished 1-1, while Davis was forced off in the first half. Additional absences include Jason Bucknor and longer-term sidelined players Scott Brady, Bridel Bosakani, and Owen Lambe, leaving the manager with limited options. The match is crucial because a short summer break follows and Sligo Rovers’ win has increased relegation risk. Assistant manager Daire Doyle stresses the league is tight and three points are needed to move closer to teams above and keep Waterford rooted at the bottom. Drogheda aim to start aggressively, as they have scored early against Waterford previously, and want to correct disappointment from a prior loss involving a contentious stoppage-time penalty.
"Drogheda United are sweating on the fitness of centre-halves Conor Keeley and James Bolger as well as striker Warren Davis for Friday's pivotal Premier Division clash at home to Waterford (kick-off 7.45pm). Keeley and Bolger both missed last Friday's Louth derby, which ended in a 1-1 draw, while Davis was forced off in the first half, and with Jason Bucknor also likely to miss out and Scott Brady, Bridel Bosakani and Owen Lambe sidelined in the longer term it leaves manager Kevin Doherty short of options for the visit of the Blues."
"With the short summer break coming after Friday night's series of games, Drogheda need a win to avoid potentially dropping into the relegation zone following Sligo Rovers' shock victory in Tallaght last week. The significance of the game isn't lost on assistant manager Daire Doyle who said: "It's a close league. There's a lot of quality in it and not a lot between a lot of the teams. There's Sligo behind us on 19 points and fourth place has 26.""
""It is important that we get the three points because it will bring us closer to the teams above us going into the break and keep Waterford rooted to the bottom of the league. We're only a couple of wins from getting ourselves into a really good position in the table." In terms of how Drogheda approach the game, Doyle feels the Boynesiders need to be on the front foot from the start - much as they were when they scored twice in the first 10 minutes to beat Waterford at home back in February."
"They also scored early in the rearranged match against Waterford a fortnight ago and should have gone further ahead, but then Drogheda conceded an equaliser before the Blues struck the winner from a hugely contentious penalty kick in stoppage time. "There was real disappointment at how we lost that game and it was really tough to take, and we'll want to put things right. We were 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes the last time we played them in Drogheda and it's important we start this game well""
Read at Irish Independent
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