O’Brien Ready for Drogheda Test | OneFootball

Shelbourne FC are back on the road this Friday night as they travel to face Drogheda United in their third fixture of the 2026 SSE Airtricity League of Ireland Premier Division season. Kick off is at 7:45pm, the away end is sold out and the game is live on LOITV.

The Reds opened the campaign with successive draws, most recently a 1–1 result at home to Galway United last week. While still unbeaten, Joey O’Brien’s side will be determined to turn positive performances into three points as the new season begins to take shape.

Speaking to ShelsTV after training, O’Brien provided a squad update: “Paddy and Odhran both have hamstring injuries, it’s too soon to put an exact timeframe on it the nature of those injuries. We obviously called back James from Athlone and Zeno came in, we’ve got options in there. Still a strong squad with depth and this is where you see that tested and lads will come in and get an opportunity. That’s their chance to stand up.

Reflecting on the opening two fixtures, O’Brien acknowledged both the positives and the areas for improvement: “We haven’t lacked tenacity. In Waterford and against Galway we showed real character, especially when we went behind last week. Equalised immediately. We finished that last game with ten men, Odhran went off and we were still the side pushing to win it. The quality is there and I know the character is too, but when we’re dominant we need to take our chances and show that more clinical edge. We always have to stay wary teams can punish you, every team in the league, it’s such a tight league, and we need to make sure we manage the key moments properly.”

On the challenge posed by Drogheda United, O’Brien was clear about what to expect: “It’s been a great start for them, seven points from three tough games against Galway, Dundalk and Waterford. They’ve been convincing as well, we know how difficult these fixtures are. Waterford in particular they were very good. Last season they beat us twice and we drew twice, so it’s always a hard place to go and get a result.

They’ve recruited well. Mark Doyle has come in, Thomas Oluwa from Rovers is a serious player, and Brandon Kavanagh is a really strong signing. There’s real threat at the top end of the pitch and a lot of quality throughout the squad.

It’s going to be a tough game. Some of their lads have been here before and that adds a bit, there’s an emotional side to the fixture for lads who’ve left here, so we’ll need to be ready for that and use our experience and our composure on the night.”

With several new faces continuing to bed into the Shels squad, the Reds boss believes cohesion is building as they chase a first win of the new season: “Lads are settling some of them have moved countries, maybe haven’t played a lot of football. But we’ve started well, conceded poor goals, and we do look at it as 4 points dropped for sure. In games, we know that we can turn those draws into wins. Wess hasn’t had a huge amount to do overall. Against Waterford we dominated large parts of the game but got done from a wide set play. It was poor defending, same again a week later we switched off and got caught by a runner off the back of us. To concede from a 3v1 like that was really disappointing then against Galway. At this level, if you give up chances like that, teams make you pay.

At the other end, we have the quality. The lads up top will get chances and they will take them. It’s just about being more clinical in the key moments.

It’s been a shorter off-season and a condensed pre-season, but that’s no excuse. We need to win games, it’s as simple as that. The performances have generally been good. For us it’s about sharpening that edge. Our aim is to win every game and to attack every game. That won’t change.”