Perth not looking to put Presidential seal on new reign

The post-Stephen Kenny era officially gets underway for Dundalk FC tomorrow but the man charged with stepping into his sizeable shoes says it’s much too early to be talking about laying down markers ahead of the President’s Cup meeting with Cork City at Turner’s Cross.

For the new management team of Vinny Perth, John Gill and Ruaidhrí Higgins victory in the traditional season opener over their closest rivals for the past five years would ease some of the question marks over their suitability to replace the new Republic of Ireland U-21 manager.

Under Kenny, Dundalk have been second best to John Caulfield’s side in the last three curtain-raisers, losing 2-0 in 2016 and 3-0 in 2017 before squandering a two goal half-time lead this time last year as the Rebels ran out 4-2 winners at Oriel Park.

That defeat didn’t hurt the Lilywhites in the long run and while head coach Perth admits a win this weekend would be welcome, he insists his main target is next Friday’s league opener at home to Sligo Rovers.

“It’s genuinely all about building towards the Sligo game. That’s all that matters,” he said.

“This time last year we had a really bad night in the President’s Cup but in the long run it didn’t mean a hell of a lot.

“I thought we played well last year in the President’s Cup. We were 2-0 up and looking really good but we ended up losing 4-2 and it was the end of the world supposedly.

“We drew a couple of matches after that and people were writing us off but as I said to the management team we’re looking at the end game.

As much as there might be pressure on us to achieve wins early we have to think of the long game. At the same time it’s something that we really look forward to.

"It’s a great test for us heading into the new season and while it is part of our pre-season there’s rarely anything friendly about Dundalk and Cork games.”

The champions head to Turner’s Cross without Jamie McGrath, Karolis Chvedukas and Jordan Flores, all of whom have yet to feature in pre-season.

New signing Sean Murray, who was unveiled before Tuesday night’s 2-2 friendly draw at home to Longford Town, should feature at some stage while there could also be a competitive debut for Daniel Kelly, who scored the opener against Neale Fenn’s side in midweek.

While Perth may not be placing great stock on Saturday’s game, last season’s top scorer Pat Hoban thinks differently.

He says Dundalk will be aiming to start the year with further silverware and dismissed the suggestion that Cork would not be in the title shake-up this season after losing a number of key players over the winter months.

Hoban said: “It’s another cup on the line which we missed out on last year so we’ll be gunning to win that.

“When you win matches it creates confidence within the group so we’re going to Turner’s Cross striving to win.

“It’s always a tough battle against Cork and nothing is going to change. People are trying to say that Cork are kind of going away but if you look at Cork’s best 11 they’re still right up there with anyone in the league.

“They’re not going anywhere. Other teams are improving and strengthening but Cork aren’t going anywhere.

“People need to get that out of their heads because they’re going to be there or thereabouts,” he said.