Clancy ‘keeps’ fingers crossed as toll mounts
DROGHEDA United boss Tim Clancy is anxiously awaiting news on the injury sustained by goalkeeper Paul Skinner against Shelbourne as the countdown begins to Friday’s game at Bray Wanderers (kick-off 7.45pm).
The former Celtic youth team keeper was forced off 10 minutes from the end with a quad or hip flexor problem and his deputy Luca Gratzer is standing by to face the Seagulls in the Carlisle Grounds if required.
It’s the latest setback in a long line of injuries suffered by the Drogs this season, the most serious of which was Adam Wixted’s dislocated shoulder. Clancy revealed that Wixted is due to undergo a ‘keyhole procedure’ next week which should alleviate the threat of a further dislocation, but he said the recovery time would be a further 12 weeks.
Meanwhile, Thomas Byrne (medial ligaments) is unlikely to feature this week and Clancy is still awaiting the all-clear to play Chris Lyons even though the Bray man was listed among the substitutes in the 0-0 draw with Shelbourne.
Asked about Skinner on Monday afternoon, Clancy responded: ‘He felt his quad taking a goal kick, so he must have tweaked something, but I don’t know what level of injury it is until we get him up to training tonight. It could be one where he could be absolutely fine [to play on Friday].’
Gratzer replaced Skinner for the final 10 minutes against Shelbourne and Clancy said he has no concerns about selecting the 21-year-old former Shamrock Rovers player if needed, even though he has never started a league match before.
‘That’s the hard part, especially for a keeper, because it’s not easy to get minutes on the pitch, but Luca played a few games in pre-season, the League Cup match and a few minutes the other night which will help him.
‘He’s a young lad, but he looks after himself really well and will be fit, and there won’t be a problem if I need to call on him. He is a very good number two and has improved massively over the last year.
‘There’s no time limit with Chris Lyons and we have to wait until all the symptoms have cleared and he has got the all-clear to play from the physio and the doctor.
‘We had him on the bench last Friday to give the impression that we had him available, but he was not an option at all - it was a bit of a decoy.
‘Concussion is a huge thing these days when you look at rugby, and Chris’ health and wellbeing are far more important than us getting a result and we won’t be rushing him back.
‘You can’t argue and get upset about injuries. It’s part of football. Last year we had very few injuries, but this season we’ve had a few and it seems to be affecting players in the same positions.
‘It is what it is and it’s not helping us. It’s giving us few options in the attacking area of the pitch, but it gives others the opportunity to step in, with Stephen Meaney being the perfect example.’
At least Drogheda go into Friday’s game in good form, having taken 10 points out of the last 12, while hosts Bray Wanderers have lost four of their last five games and scored only twice in that time.
Clancy feels that the home crowd could get on the backs of the Bray players if the Drogs can bag an early goal.
‘I watched them in Longford on Saturday and Longford got an early goal and looked very dangerous on the counter-attack and Bray maybe were a bit short of confidence.
‘They have some good players, but we’re carrying a bit of momentum into the game. We maybe could have won the game against Shelbourne if we’d been a bit more effective in the final third, but that’s understandable with the injuries we had and it was us who were doing all the pressing in the second half.
‘It’s up to us to keep getting positive results, but when we get the injured players back it’ll certainly give us a boost.’
Meanwhile, Drogheda United are awaiting the FAI match delegate’s report following Friday’s Shelbourne match, to see if reference will be made to flares being lit during the game.
In the last 10 minutes flares were set off both at the North Road end and also in the terraced area for away supporters and a Drogheda spokesman said he expected both the United and Shelbourne clubs to be punished with fines.