O'Donnell delighted to have a larger player pool fit ahead of crunch St Pat's clash
Dundalk look to get back to winning ways as they head to the capital later this evening to face St Patrick's Athletic in Richmond Park (Kick off 7:45PM).
The Lilywhites come into the contest having endured a tale of two halves last Friday night. Despite two early goals, they had to settle for a draw when Bohemians hit back late in the contest via Krystian Nowak and Ali Coote.
Stephen O'Donnell's troops will at least have larger squad to work with in Inchicore. Darragh Leahy, Rayhaan Tulloch and Greg Sloggett all resumed training this week, while Andy Boyle and Louie Annesley are also closing in on a return to full fitness.
“It’s great to have so many bodies back,” stated the Dundalk Head Coach. “It’s the first time all season really that we have looked so full numbers-wise.
“The players that were out for a period of time are coming back with real enthusiasm and are delighted to be back out on the pitch and that rubs off on everyone.
“We’ve had some really good sessions this week and we’re looking forward to the game on Friday. We’re looking a lot more fuller and we’ll have a lot more options.”
Recent results from both sides have seen the two clubs go level on 26 points, but the Saints sit in fourth position, one above Dundalk, due to a better goal difference.
St Pats, who handed Jon Daly the manager’s job on a permanent basis this week, have won three and lost one of their previous four games but found themselves on the receiving end of a 5-0 drubbing in the corresponding game at Oriel Park earlier in the season.
The sides could not be separated in the two league games that were played in Dublin 8 last year, while Dundalk’s last win at Richmond Park came back in May 2021 when a brace from David McMillan was enough to down a Pat’s team who were managed by O’Donnell at the time.
“Richmond is always a tough place to go,” said the Lilywhites boss. “They have won three of their last four games and any team that possesses good quality and good offensive players are going to be a threat and Pat’s are one of those teams.
“We’re looking forward to it. We always have good support at Richmond Park and the fans have been brilliant.
"From a development point of view and from where we are project-wise, there will be bumps along the way but there have been enough moments to suggest that as we go on we’ll go from strength to strength. I'm really excited about where we are going."