Horgan keeping focus on pitch despite off-field recognition

It’s been a busy week for Daryl Horgan over the past few days. The winger scooped the PFAI Player of the Year award at the weekend, before being named in Martin O Neill’s Republic of Ireland squad to face Austria.

On the pitch, however, is where his focus remains as Dundalk face the might of Zenit St Petersburg in their Europa League tie.

Speaking to Extratime.ie, Horgan was looking forward to the game in a positive manner.

“In the first game we went one nil up, there wasn’t much in it at all and we could have won the game if it had gone to two,” he said.

“This is going to be a very, very tricky tie. They’re the highest seeded team in the competition.

“I don’t see the game as being too different from the home game as they’re going to have a lot of possession and we’re going to have to sit in at times.

“We’re going to try and break and when we have the ball we’ve to keep it. If we can do that, it’ll give us a foothold in the game and that would be great.”

Dundalk currently lie second in the group, behind Zenit who need just a point to ensure qualification for the next round. Tonight’s game kicks off at 6pm and Caoimhin Reilly’s preview can be found here.