OLLIE HORGAN DOESN’T expect his Finn Harps to have too much of the ball in tomorrow night’s north-west derby against Sligo Rovers at Finn Park.
Horgan is quite content for his team to be starved of possession against a side he describes as ‘a proper team’.
Sligo, under new manager Dave Robertson, struggled to find consistency in the opening passages of the season, but Horgan always insisted that they’d get out of the hole.
The Bit O’Red have proved the Harps manager right in winning six of their last seven games and they’ll arrive in Ballybofey with a spring in their step and back by up-to 500 traveling supporters.
“Sligo are a proper team – they play a very past game, they have a great style, they’re powerful and dynamic,” Horgan observed.
“We got a run around down in Sligo and we could easily have been three down at half-time. They have improved so much since that game.
“We’ll be starved of possession again, but that’s to be expected here.”
Horgan has ear-marked Kieran Sadlier, Craig Roddan, John Russell and Raffaele Cretaro as the danger men in the opposition.
“They’re smashing players,” said Horgan. “This time six weeks ago, Sligo weren’t in a promising position, but I always felt that themselves and Bohemians had the capabilities to get out of that.
“Those players are as good as what’s in the League. They have a lot of power and we really have to be on our guard.”
[adrotate group=”50″]Although Gavin Peers is injured, Sligo will welcome back Roddan, Tim Clancy and Mick Leahy to their squad.
“We are in a really good place right now,” Roberston said.
“The players have been working really hard and are focused on this game. We really want to continue the good form that we have been on into the break.
“It is important that we continue that tomorrow and if we can we’ll be really well placed for the break and going into the next stage of our season.”
Damien McNulty’s goal in The Showgrounds secured Harps a share of the spoils in their last meeting. Chris Lyons had opened the scoring and it was a game that ended in confusion with floodlight failure forcing the game’s abandonment and League officials later confirmed the result would stand.
[adrotate group=”37″]McNulty will serve a suspension for tomorrow’s game as he has, for the second time this season, accumulated the quota of four bookings.
Josh Mailey and Michael Rafter have recently returned to the match-day squad and will again be in contention with Barry Molloy available having been suspended for Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Shamrock Rovers.
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