Injured keeper not ruled out of Bohs clash
DROGHEDA United boss Pete Mahon will wait another 48 hours at least before deciding on who will play in goal against Bohemians on Friday and hasn’t ruled out Stephen McGuinness making an instant comeback from injury.
The 22-year-old stopped suffered a heavy fall 11 minutes into the game against Derry City last weekend and was carefully removed from the field on a stretcher after receiving almost 10 minutes of treatment, sparking fears of a lengthy absence.
However, there are no broken bones and within a couple of hours of being admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital on Friday night he was released and heading home to recuperate.
Given that McGuinness is still in some pain, the odds must be on Ryan Coulter to continue between the sticks for the vital game in Dalymount Park (7.45pm), especially as he kept a clean sheet and had a good game against the Candystripes.
However, Mahon was non-committal on Monday afternoon and was relieved that the injury to McGuinness isn’t as serious as it appeared to be at the time.
‘My initial fear was that Stephen had done some severe damage, but thank God he didn’t and he got expert help from Dr Conor Kelly and the medical team in the hospital,’ he said.
‘He was discharged late on Friday night, and although he was a bit groggy I spoke to him yesterday. It’s sore on the back of his neck where he made the initial contact and there’s bruising around it, so we’ll have to wait for the medical people to give him the go-ahead.
‘I am expecting him to be okay, but we have Ryan Coulter who did well for us on Friday night, so we will have to wait and see.’
Mahon was also in the dark yesterday about whether their new signing, striker Ryan Masterson, would receive clearance to be considered for selection against Bohs, and that’s a source of frustration given that Drogheda have failed to score a goal in their last four games.
‘We’re waiting on our friends in Abbotstown [the FAI], but hopefully he will be cleared today,’ Mahon remarked.
‘I wouldn’t put him in the starting line-up, to be fair to him. It’s an area where we’ve been really, really poor, and he’s a very direct type of forward with good pace, and he can finish.
‘He’s only played 60 minutes of football in the last 18 months, but he seems to have put his injuries behind him, I’m hoping he’ll get up to speed quickly and he will definitely be on the bench [on Friday].
Killian Brennan missed the Derry match after feeling a twinge in the same shoulder that he damaged on the opening day of the season, but he should be fit to face Bohs, as will Colm Deasy (knee), leaving only Richie Purdy and Lloyd Buckley on the treatment table.
Looking ahead to the game, Mahon was in no doubt that Drogheda need to get back to winning ways after losing two and drawing four of their last six games.
‘They are down there fighting with us as well and that’s why I’m saying we can’t let them get six points ahead of us. We have to win there - that’s for sure.’ •Drogheda United’s Jamie Hollywood (IT Blanchardstown) has been named in the Irish Colleges & Universities squad to face French Universities in a friendly in Epinal next week.
The friendly is part of preparations for the World University Games in August, and as luck would have it ‘Les Bleus’ have been drawn in the same pool as Ireland, along with Mexico and hosts Taipei.