Rogers hopeful on skipper Keith Cowan as Finn Harps go away to Longford Town

Finn Harps are on the road for their shortest away journey of the season this evening as they take on Longford Town at Bishopsgate (kick-off, 7.30pm).

Following two opening losses, Dave Rogers’ side has managed to pick up points in their last two outings - home clashes with Bray Wanderers and Wexford FC. The manager believes if things can now gel in the final third of the pitch, the side’s first win of the season isn’t far away.

“Preparation for the game away to Longford Town has gone really well this week and we are looking to continue to gain more momentum from our last two unbeaten games. 

Keeping a clean sheet and being hard to beat is something that we are continuing to work on, though on the flip side of that we know we must also be more ruthless and aggressive in the final third and add more creativity and end product to enable more goal scoring opportunities. 

“Our approach is always to try and win each and every game, and as I always reiterate to the players, we must play on the front foot and be more confident and proactive in front of goal. It is definitely an area of our play that must improve as we strive to win matches”. 

He added: “Longford Town are very resilient and will be very well set up under Stephen Henderson so we know for us to come away from Bishopsgate with a positive result we will have to be at our best. 

“As always the lads continue to grow and they are eager to repay our fantastic Harps support with our first win of the season, so we go into this match with enthusiasm and positivity while also knowing that this is another tough challenge from a team who are also chasing their first win of the season”.

Harps have some niggles and Rogers says they will be assessed closer to kickoff. Skipper Keith Cowan has responded well to treatment following his recent spell on the sideline and could be in line for a return. 

“On the injury front, we will assess Keith who has responded really well from a tight hamstring and we also have young Shane McMonagle back in the squad and available for selection.”