Champions Dundalk facing their biggest test yet

As ever, questions abound on the opening night of the new season but there can be no disputing the big one: can the best team in the country succeed without the best player in the country?

While it would be grossly unfair to Stephen Kenny’s Dundalk to suggest the champions and cup-holders were a one-man band, the loss of a player as exceptional as Richie Towell is hardly something any club could expect to take entirely in its stride.

A shelf full of awards and 29 goals last season testified to Towell’s pre-eminence in the SSE Airtricity League and, while Robbie Benson and, in particular, Patrick McEleney, are quality additions to a strong and settled Oriel Park squad, one of the most fascinating aspects of the new campaign will be to see how the Lilywhites fare without their talisman as they go in search of three-in-a-row.