KILDUFF ON “UPBEAT” MOOD & INJURY UPDATE

Dundalk manager Ciarán Kilduff says his players quickly got their Leinster Senior Cup loss out of their system and that the mood in the camp this week has been “upbeat”, with a positive update too on the injury front.

The Lilywhites followed their 4-0 home win over Malahide United in the Leinster Senior Cup last Friday with a 2-1 defeat by Usher Celtic in the same competition at Oriel Park on Monday night, conceding two goals in the final 20 minutes having led through Eoin Kenny.

Kilduff’s side were back on the training pitch within 24 hours, following their 2025 photoshoot with Sportsfile and ZOMA earlier in the evening, and the manager was keen to focus on the plus points, including 15-year-old defender Seán Spaight’s 90-minute performance.

“It was important to come in and train on Tuesday, the night after, because you don’t want to be lingering on things too long,” Kilduff told dundalkfc.com.

“When you look at the video back, there were so many positives within it too. I complimented Seán Spaight in front of the group at training, at 15 years of age playing 90 minutes of senior football in a competitive game, and I thought he was brilliant.

“This is what those games are for. Of course, we want to win every time we step foot on the pitch. Seeing these lads get opportunities and seeing how well they’re doing, and then obviously seeing what lads have to improve on, there is stuff that we can definitely take from those two games against Malahide and Usher, and build on.”

He added: “Some are positive, some are negative and we’ll make sure that they don’t happen again. I’m actually quite happy with the week’s work we got.

“The mood in training, as you would expect for a team in pre-season who are so fresh and new to each other, was quite upbeat. Of course, we addressed Monday’s game and we’ll watch a few clips of it so that those things can never happen again.

“But, as I said, there were also a lot of positives in it too, so we’ll build on those mainly.”

Dundalk have been without 17-year-old midfielder Luke Mulligan (ankle) since their opening friendly against Shelbourne, while 19-year-old centre-half Seán McHale (heel) was forced off after just 18 minutes of the win over Malahide.

Kilduff had positive news in particular on McHale, while goalkeeper Enda Minogue (face) – whose only action so far was the opening 45 minutes against Shels – is waiting on a mask before he can get more minutes on the pitch.

“I wouldn’t even call it an injury with Luke, he has a niggle and we’re not at the time of season for risking things right now,” Ciarán said. “Seán McHale will be back in a week or so, he’s got good news. They’re just not being risked at the minute.

“I’m hoping Luke will be back soon, he’ll definitely be involved in either the Drogheda or Shelbourne game if we can just get him back on the pitch. McHale should be back within a week as well.

“Enda needs a mask for the facial injury. We’re waiting for the mask to arrive, but he’s at sessions, he hasn’t missed a session yet. We’re just waiting for a few things on the medical side to be cleared.

“He had a fracture to his nose in training. That was the issue. In order to play, he needs to have some bit of apparatus. Knowing him, it’ll have to be a trendy looking one, he won’t just wear anything that young lad. But once he gets that, we’ll get minutes into him because he’s one we need to see on the pitch now.

“With this injury, he has missed games, he got 45 minutes against Shelbourne but that’s been it so we’ll try to up his minutes in the coming week. As we know, we’re trying to spread it around that everyone is getting similar enough minutes and Enda is one that is just a little bit behind on those. We’ll up those as soon as he’s ready to go.”

The manager also gave an update on winger Norman Garbett, who arrived back from New Zealand on 9th January. The 20-year-old has been absent since suffering a hamstring injury just minutes after coming on against Shamrock Rovers in Dundalk’s final home game of the season in October.

“Norman is seeing a specialist this week,” Kilduff revealed. “We’re sending him to one of the top hamstring specialists in the country. Hopefully, we’ll have a return-to-play date for him soon.

“He’s not far away. He has been running around the pitch and annoying everyone already, itching to get going. With such a serious injury like that, we have to err on the side of caution and get him the right care.

“He’s getting that this week. Hopefully, he will be signed off to return to play in the coming weeks.

“Potentially, we might see him, I’m probably pipe-dreaming it here, but I’d love to say he’ll definitely be available, hopefully, for the Shamrock Rovers game in the Leinster Senior Cup the week before Athlone, which would be brilliant to have him back in amongst things and get an opportunity to see him in a game before we play Athlone.

“I would imagine that he’ll be back within the next fortnight.”

Garbett made an eye-catching debut for Dundalk against Rovers last July but is still waiting to make his first start for the club. Kilduff has high hopes for the young forward, who appeared for the All Whites in the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup.

“I’ve seen a lot of him. When you research him and see the pace he possesses, and the attributes he has, he’s such a powerful runner, he’s so quick,” the 36-year-old said.

“I had a couple of chats with him after I took the job and he’s a very determined, focussed player, and hungry player to come back to the club. That was something that I was looking out for. It was very important that players wanted to be here and he was definitely one that gave me a vibe that he would be desperate to come back and have an impact.

“I really do have a lot of faith in him, from watching his clips, from already seeing him around the place, his commitment and his dedication. There are not many players or kids that would hop on a plane from the other side of the world to come to Dundalk and commit for a season after they’ve been relegated. I think that goes a long way.

“I just have a feeling he’s going to be a big player for us this year. Maybe where we’re at, after being relegated, he was a Premier Division player himself last year, I’m hopeful that he can play a big role for us this season.”

Red Weather Warning: Oriel Park is closed on Friday and the first-team’s behind-closed-doors friendly with Ireland Under-19s in Abbotstown has been called off.

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