Longford Town -v- Shelbourne

Credit:

Shelbourne will travel to Flancare Park to take on Longford Town on Saturday evening with the chance of extending their lead at top of the League of Ireland First Division. (kick-off 7.30pm)

On Friday last, Shelbourne defeated Finn Harps by two goals to one, in a game where they had by far the greatest amount of possession and a bag full of chances. Manager Dermot Keely will be looking for the same heart and commitment from his charges this week, but without the indiscipline that has seen a player red carded in the final few minutes of the first half, in the last two matches.

The red card in last week’s game means that Shelbourne will go into this game without Mark O’Brien, suspended because of it. The influential David McGill is also suspended for this one due to the accumulation of four yellow cards. Damien Brennan is once again eligible having been suspended for the Harps game.

On the injury front, both Kevin Doherty and Alan Keely have yet to resume full training and are a week or two away from returning. Stephen Quigley trained on Thursday, but this game might just be a bit soon to see him return.

New signing, striker Tony Griffiths could be on the bench and make his debut at some stage for the Reds, just as his former team mate at Crumlin United, Robert Douglas, did last week when coming on after 71 minutes to replace Anto Flood.

Longford Town have now shipped six goals in two games without reply. Manager Gareth Cronin will more than likely have to plan without the services of Michael Foley. Kevin Cronin and Darren McKenna are carrying injuries. Longford have no suspensions.

Extratime.ie Prediction: Shels to win by 2-0.