Dundalk manager Daly pleased with new signings

Dundalk FC manager Jon Daly says he was impressed with the impact of his new signings following Thursday night’s 1-0 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division defeat at Shamrock Rovers, but admitted his summer transfer business is far from completed.

After announcing the signings of Scottish midfielder Scott McGill and New Zealand U20 international winger Norman Garbett before the start of the window, Daly made further additions to his squad in the form of Jad Hakiki, Bobby Faulkner and Hayden Cann.

Hakiki, who turned 20 last month, is a former Republic of Ireland U19 international who joins on a permanent deal having made 40 appearances for Shels since debuting in 2022.

Faulkner, a 19-year-old defender, has come in until the end of the season on loan from Doncaster Rovers, where he scored twice in 26 outings for the English League Two side.

Both players started against Rovers, just three days after signing, with McGill and Garbett coming off the substitutes’ bench in the second half to make their Dundalk bows.

“I thought they were all good,” enthused Daly. “The likes of Bobby hasn’t played for a long time and he’s gone in next to Zak (Johnson) having never played and probably won’t play with him again, so I thought he done fine. I thought there was moments where you could see he was a little bit rusty, but I thought he grew into the game.

“I thought Jad looked lively. He shows real flashes in spells and had moments within the time he was on the pitch where he picked out some good passes and created a lot for us.

“The two boys that came on, I thought done fine. Scott, you can see he’s got quality. I thought Norman was the one that really showed a lot of quality when he came on, and he really gave us a lot of energy and produced a lot in terms of getting forward, crossing the ball, winning us corners, really gave us loads of energy, so I was really pleased with him.

“Obviously Hayden didn’t get the chance to come on, but then, obviously next week we’re probably going to be without Zak, so Hayden might get his opportunity next week.”

With Archie Davies, Jamie Walker, Hayden Muller and Sam Durrant all possibly leaving the club in the coming weeks, Daly is keen to add to the five signings already made this summer, with a new goalkeeper expected to join the ranks before this Friday night’s relegation six-pointer against Drogheda United at Oriel Park (kick-off, 7.45pm).

Another defender, as well as a midfielder, are also understood to be close to signing.

“I think we’re obviously working hard to try and get bodies in,” said Daly. “I think it’s evident that we need help and we need to try and get the right types in, the right bodies in. We’re obviously still short in a few areas.

“The strength of the bench (against Rovers) was good. I think in recent weeks, we’ve had plenty of kids on the bench, which there’s nothing wrong with, but I just think they’re probably not ready for first-team football.

"They’re very, very good young, talented footballers, the kids that we have at the club, but probably just not ready to chuck in, and in the situation we’re in, it’s very difficult to do so.

“You look at Sean Keogh – when we feel they’re ready, they’ll certainly get opportunities. They’ve trained with us every day and we see them every day, but I was really pleased with the strength of the bench we had.

"We felt like we had options to change things and you were able to take people out of the team and freshen things up with high-quality players. So again, it’s just trying to add to that. It’s trying to get a few extra in that we feel can give us that little boost and get us where we need to go.”