Keadue Rovers expecting a kickback from Castlefin Celtic - Pat Ward

Keadue Rovers host Castlefin Celtic this weekend at Central Park and Pat Ward noted that sometimes the table can lie.

Castlefin don't have a single point or goal to their name in the league after three games but despite their lousy start, Ward knows what he'll get when the Park View side are the opposition.

"Castlefin are a good outfit," he explained. "I've yet to meet Castlefin, even as a player, and get an easy game.

"We went up to them last year and within the first half an hour, we were four goals ahead and it ended five each.

!If you're four goals up and coasting and the game finishes five each, then something’s wrong.

"I know they've lost a few, Raymond Foy has gone to Strabane and taken a few with him but I've never met a poor Castlefin side and I expect that to continue."

Keadue Rovers have spent four seasons in the Premier Division since their promotion in 2017/18 and after a relegation scare in 2019/20, they've finished in sixth and fifth in the last two campaigns.

With final spots like those, it keeps Keadue on track for what Ward has set as the targets.

"Our target all the time is to be in the top half of the table," he said. "If we can stay there, it's a success for the club because you're in the top league and it means you are one of the top teams in the county.

"That's a good marker for anyone because in these last few years, there hasn't been much between the teams and you can go into any game and not be able to pick a winner and that's the sign of a strong league."

Ahead of the game this weekend, Ward is able to welcome a few back to his side and it will be a boost after playing players in unnatural positions the last few games.

"Dungloe have exited the championship so a few of them should be back and Naomh Mhuire have finished too so that could be a couple more," he noted.

"The players coming back can make a huge difference to the squad and they'll be in the centre of defence and we've been lacking there.

"We stuck our left-back in the centre for the first few games just to cover and then Martin Ferry was injured and he's our regular centre-back so we had to bring Chris Greene back from centre-forward.

"We have a mixture of youth and experience now for these positions so we'll be alright ahead of the upcoming schedule."