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Stephen O’Donnell has given some of the club’s underage stars hope for first-team action this season after a number of them stood out in Friday’s pre-season friendly match with Finn Harps.
rish underage international Senan Mullen started the scoreless draw at Oriel Park in an unfamiliar full back role while Eoin Kenny, Callum Bonner, Oisín Coleman, Jake Hough and Anthony Mayo all did well off the bench in the second half.
While it isn’t uncommon for youth players to feature in pre-season matches, O’Donnell said he would be keeping an open mind on including them in his first-team plans as the year progresses.
“If they’re good enough we will,” he said when asked if promoting some of the youngsters was an option.
“We’re not going to do it for the sake of it as a token gesture. There has to be a balance. We do want our own young players coming through, without a doubt, but there has to be a certain calibre.
“The young players who played tonight were excellent. I didn’t even show Senan in his best light because he’s a central midfield player but just from a personnel point of view and a balance point of view he had to play left-back but he’s a central midfield player and he’ll be a really good one.
“Then the other boys that came on, I thought they were all excellent. Anthony played last week and did very well and then came on and looked very lively in the second half this week. Then we had Oisín Coleman have a 15 minute cameo and he did very well. I thought some of his range of passing was very good.
“Then Jake came on at left-back. I thought his composure and how comfortable he was on the ball was excellent. Then Callum Bonner, who was also involved last week, was very lively and had good movement and good feet. Then Eoin Kenny, who as you can see from his frame, is going to be a real handful. He’s mobile. Usually players that tall or youngsters that tall aren’t the most mobile but he’s mobile as well.
“They all did really well and they just need to keep progressing now and when they’re training with the U19s and playing just keep shining and keep standing out. They will get opportunities with regard training with us and they just need to keep progressing but they’ve definitely shown real potential,” said O’Donnell.
While the match with Dave Rogers’ side didn’t produce a win for Dundalk, the Lilywhites boss said he was happy with the workout overall.
“I’m happy,” he said.
“We came through it, touch wood, unscathed. The pitch looked a little bit frozen before the game and that was my main concern but everyone came through it unscathed and it was a good work out.
“We’re short bodies. There’s quite a few lads on the treatment table but hopefully over the next few weeks they’ll be gradually coming back. We had good passages but also, truth be known, the first two weeks all we’ve been doing in training is in small areas. We haven’t trained in big spaces at all so the only exposure they’ve had to anywhere near full size is the match tonight and last week. We’ll hopefully be getting more boys back and cranking that up over the next few weeks.
“We’ve a lot of quality to come back in and it’ll be quite exciting when we do marry them all in.”
O’Donnell was also pleased to give his four new recruits – Louie Annesley, Hayden Muller, Connor Malley and Cameron Elliott – their first outing at Oriel Park.
“That’s why I wanted a 7:45pm kick-off on a Friday, just to get them used to the surroundings and what it’s like on a home match night,” he said.
“They all have really good attributes and I thought they done well. It’s not easy coming in for your first home game. They’re only in the door and we haven’t really done anything shape-wise, etc, with them as a group in bigger spaces. They all have really good attributes, good age profiles and I think they’ll be really good players for the club.
“I don’t want pre-season to be going flying and you’re beating everyone because that can lead you into a false sense of security. With the pre-season and our squad depth and the way we’re giving minutes there’s never going to be great rhythm. It was always going to be the way it is so I just want the players who are fit to get the most minutes they can in their legs and come through injury free. We’re in a much better place than last year but we need to try and build on it now.”
Dundalk continue their pre-season preparations this Friday when they travel to Abbotstown to face Cork City. Kick-off is at 2pm.
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