Teen midfielder Rossiter joins the Drogheda ranks
DROGHEDA United have added 19-year-old former Shamrock Rovers and Bray Wanderers midfielder Luke Rossiter to their ranks after he featured as a sub in both of last week’s friendly matches.
Rossiter made his senior debut for Bray last September and was previously with Rovers’ Under-19s and he’s done enough to earn a contract for 2018, while there could be further additions in the coming days as manager Tim Clancy considers the impact made by a number of trialists during the matches against Dundalk and Bohemians.
The Drogs kicked off pre-season with a creditable 2-1 success over Bohs at United Park last Tuesday, while they looked set to force a penalty shootout to decide the destination of the Malone Cup before conceding two late goals at Oriel Park on Saturday evening.
Speaking on Monday afternoon, Clancy said he’d been more than satisfied with the squad’s two outings to date.
‘We’ve been happy with the two displays so far,’ he began. ‘They were two good outings for us and we can be happy with the level of fitness of the majority of players.
‘It’s early in pre-season and we have plenty of work to do in terms of style of play, but against Bohemians they had all their main players out on the pitch at some stage and we acquitted ourselves very well.
‘Dundalk was a different game altogether because of the size of their squad, the quality they have and their fitness as a full-time club.
‘We had to work more on our game out of possession, but I was happy with the way the game went. We won’t be playing anyone at that level in our league and to be competitive, created a few chances and stay in the game for practically the whole 90 minutes was very pleasing.’
Asked about Rossiter, the Drogs boss added: ‘ He is a really good kid and is a hard worker who doesn’t mind a tackle. He puts his foot in and gets about the pitch and is a good footballer, and this move will give him a chance he mightn’t have had in the Premier Division.’
On the subject of possible further signings, Clancy added: ‘I’ll be speaking to two more players tonight and in regard to our budget it will be interesting to see if we can get them in for what’s available because they’ve been with us throughout pre-season.’
Meanwhile, this Friday’s friendly match against Derry City, which had been scheduled for the newly-redeveloped Brandywell, is in doubt on two fronts as work continues on the Derry venue and it’s thought that Irish officials won’t be available due to a referees seminar.
A possible switch to United Park and the use of Irish League officials is being considered and the club are in discussions with the FAI about whether they are happy for any friendly involving League of Ireland clubs to proceed that night.
Meanwhile, Luke Gallagher (shoulder) and Richie Purdy (dead leg) are suffering from knocks, but neither is serious enough to threaten their availability for the league opener against Finn Harps on February 23rd.