Dundalk set to complete third signing of summer window

Ciaran Kilduff is keen to make one final addition to his Dundalk FC squad during the July transfer window, as The Lilywhites continue their pursuit of automatic promotion from the SSE Airtricity League First Division.

Having already bolstered his ranks with the arrivals of John Ross Wilson and Declan McDaid from Athlone Town, the Dundalk manager is still seeking to find the missing piece of his jigsaw with one more key signing this month.

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While speculation has linked the club with both a midfielder and a striker, Kilduff has chosen to keep his cards close to his chest regarding the specific position he intends to reinforce.

“I’ll be looking for one more,” he confirmed to The Democrat. “It’s not perfectly identified yet, but we are speaking to a few. I tend to be picky, and I tend to take my time with these things. The club have been nothing but supportive. The owners, the investors, they’ve been brilliant, and they know we’re in a position now to maybe strengthen ourselves — we have already.

“We have Ethen Vaughan and Norman Garbett coming back, Conor O’Keeffe coming back. We lost Leo Gaxha, but he’ll be back in the future. We’re assembling a great little squad here together, but to be honest, one more player would be the maximum. It won’t be any more than that, and it has to be the right player.”

New signing Wilson made his debut last Friday night in Dundalk’s emphatic 4-0 win over Kerry in Tralee, starting at right-back and delivering a solid 82-minute performance before being replaced by Luke Mulligan — a player who can count himself unfortunate to have been displaced from the starting lineup.

“JR has played Premier Division games, so this was never going to faze him,” said Kilduff afterwards. “He needs to be caught up to speed quickly. He hasn’t played in the last couple of weeks.

“He’s been excellent in training. He’s catching up with the boys, he’s doing extra runs, but we need to get these players up to speed as quickly as we can. We’re not going to win anything with 11 lads.

“Luke Mulligan, in particular, has been absolutely outstanding the last couple of weeks. I spoke to Luke today, but he gets it. He knows now he’s got a huge role to play for us.

“Everyone wants to play, and I’m strengthening that dressing room at every opportunity, and it’s a good thing for me. It gives me a headache, and I have to pick a team.”

Also making his debut in Kerry was winger McDaid, who entered the fray just after the hour mark in place of captain Daryl Horgan and played a role in the swift attacking move that led to fellow substitute Andy Paraschiv netting Dundalk’s fourth — capping off their most emphatic victory of the season to date.

“Declan McDaid has a link-up with Andy for that fourth goal, which is an assist for him, a clean sheet for JR. It’s a perfect night in terms of the statistics and what it looks like, and the subs scoring always makes a big thing for any manager.

“It’s hard at times when you’re managing a group and you know what they’re capable of, and you want them to perform at all times because they deserve the success that they’re not guaranteed. We’re guaranteed to win nothing this year. All we’re guaranteed is that we have to prepare properly now for Bray.”

This Friday night could prove pivotal in the First Division title race, as the top four sides face off, with league leaders Dundalk travelling to Bray Wanderers (kick-off, 7:45pm) and second-placed Cobh Ramblers, four points adrift of The Lilywhites, making the trip to Limerick to face Treaty United on the same evening.

“It’s a tough place to go to,” warned Kilduff. “I’m telling you, they’re not out of any title race. They’ll be looking at that as their opportunity to close the gap, and we’ll have to go out there and be ready for a massive game.”

When Dundalk last visited the Carlisle Grounds in March, they struck three times within the opening half-hour before conceding a late penalty in a 3-1 victory — a performance Kilduff will be hoping to draw inspiration from ahead of this Friday’s return encounter.

“That was one of those games where we were 3-0 up at half-time, and I was expecting a big second half, and the game finished 3-1, and I went after the lads afterwards because we were 3-0 up and lost the second half that night.

“I was disappointed with it, but we know the quality we possess when things click and we’re at it, but at any moment, if we down tools, we’re as vulnerable as anyone, so we’ll just have to dust off and prepare properly.”

Meanwhile, Muhammad Haris, who made four competitive appearances off the bench for the first team this season — three of which came in the league — has departed the club to join Wexford.