Sligo Rovers will look to win four Premier Division games in a row for the first time since summer 2024 as we travel to Sullivan and Lambe Park to take on Drogheda United this Friday, kick-off 7.45pm.
This will be the Bit O’Red’s first visit to Windmill Road this season, as Rovers look to win at the County Louth venue for the first time since 2022.
Recent impressive form sees John Russell’s men unbeaten in four and seeking as many wins on the spin ahead of another busy bank holiday weekend with St Pat’s the visitors to Sligo on Monday evening.
Rovers come into this game in seventh position, one point ahead of Drogs following straight wins over Bohs, Waterford and Dundalk. While United, who have one game less played, find themselves second from bottom following recent defeats to St Pat’s and Galway. Although they did pull off a magnificent comeback win over Shelbourne last weekend, winning 4-3 after being two goals down.
Rovers will look to win for the fourth time on the bounce for the first time in almost two years. The last time Rovers achieved such a feat was in June and July 2024 with consecutive defeats of Galway, Bohs, Derry and Shamrock Rovers.
Friday’s contest will be the second meeting between the clubs in 2026.
The now in-form Will Fitzgerald opened the scoring when the sides last went up against each other at the Showgrounds in March. Mark Doyle replied to Alex Nolan’s goal shortly after Nolan had put Rovers two ahead, but Sligo held out for what was our first win of the season.
Seeking that first win in Drogheda as Rovers boss, Russell will again be missing the injured Ryan O’Kane, Conor Renolds, Seb Quirk and Ciaron Harkin for this one. As of Thursday morning, it looks likely that both Jeannot Esua and Jad Hakiki will also have to sit this one out due to knocks picked up in the win over Dundalk.
“We may be down a few bodies again which is really frustrating”, Russell tells sligorovers.com ahead of the game.
“A week or two ago, it looked like lads were coming back in but unfortunately, we are down a few more going to Drogheda. However, that’s football and we’re in really good form going up there and we have proven before that we can come away with good results by using our full squad. We have huge belief in everyone involved and the last few weeks have proven that we have some really good players in our squad who can make a real difference at any point.
“We’re going up there to win and keep this run going. We’ve been really impressive all over the pitch in our last few games so we’re encouraging the players to keep this run going.
A win for Rovers would be a first on Boyneside in nine attempts should we come out on top. With this to the front of minds, Russell knows the enormity of the task at hand.
“We’re under now illusions as to how tough this game will be. They’ll be riding high after last week’s win at Tolka. It’ll do a lot for them. They’re a very strong side and they can really hurt you up there. There’s always good noise up there and they feed off the crowd when things are going well. We’ve been on the wrong side of it a few times in the last few years but we’re looking forward to getting out there again.
“It’s up to us to keep them quiet and go about our own business.”
David Goulden