Drogs still hunting first win

Drogheda United will be looking for their first win of the season as they welcome Shamrock Rovers to United Park, kick-off 7.45pm.

United boss Alan Mathews must plan without Robbie Martin, although Conor Kenna returns to the squad after the centre-half missed last week’s game through suspension.

Commenting on last week’s defeat the Drogheda boss said: “We need to take the chances that fall our way. Bohemians had one good chance, and they scored from it, which is something we have to do ourselves.”

Speaking about the visit of Rovers, Mathews added: “We have to look at getting points on the board quickly. The reality is that we’re not scoring goals, and we haven’t got an array of strikers to pick from. But I’m confident that that first goal, and first win will come.

With no injury worries for the second game in succession, Shamrock Rovers’ boss Michael O’Neill has a full-strength squad to call on for the game in Drogheda.

“It’s a great complaint to have everyone fit and available to play,” said Hoops boss O’Neill. “And we’ve no suspensions either, which is also a very good sign.

“We’re obviously lucky to be in this position as it also means that we’ve been extremely competitive in training all week. Everyone’s fighting for a place in the starting eleven.”

He added: “The manner in which we lost to Derry City means that we’re still feeling the pain. We were bitterly disappointed to lose a game that we really should’ve had wrapped up.

“The key for us is to learn from the mistakes we made against Derry and bring that learning process with us so we can develop, both as individuals and as a group.

“We’re looking to win this one. Drogheda may be at the wrong end of the table, but the key for us is that we’re in the right frame of mind to go out and earn the three points.

“We’ve a busy couple of weeks with four games in eleven days so we’ll find out a lot about ourselves between now and Easter Monday. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”