Vinny Perth gives update on Dundalk FC's injured stars

Vinny Perth has revealed that John Mountney will have a precautionary scan on an ankle injury which forced him off early against UCD, but otherwise it was a night of positives for Dundalk FC’s head coach whose team are now unbeaten in 22 domestic games.

Michael Duffy gave the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division leaders the perfect start with a magnificent third-minute strike, but Mountney immediately withdrew following that stunning opener and afterwards left Oriel Park on crutches.

Perth, though, says the 26-year-old midfielder is “fairly confident” that he will be available for Friday’s league test away to The Students.

“I don’t know,” Perth said when asked about the extent of Mountney’s injury. “He felt something in his ankle and he just came off as a precaution, so we won’t know.

“I know everyone is screaming for updates on injuries, but I’ll probably give the Jürgen Klopp answer of he may be out for a couple of days or a couple of weeks, I don’t know.

“He is to have a precautionary scan – he’s in a boot. But John is fairly confident that he’ll be okay for Friday, that it was a precaution. But we’ll see.”

Dundalk were boosted by the return of midfielder Robbie Benson to the matchday squad on Monday, having been absent since suffering a rib injury in the first leg against Qarabag.

Benson – despite the team being in cruise control – did not come off the bench against his former club, and Perth spoke of the necessity to “protect” players.

“Robbie was back on the bench tonight. It’s very early for him,” the head coach said. “Because of the pain, he has only been able to get a couple of training sessions done, but his fitness is fine. It’s just if he got a bang on it, we’d be worried.

“There’s no break or anything like that. It’s just pain management at the moment and we’ll protect Robbie, because we’ve had a huge injury crisis and we need to protect people.”

In front of a crowd of just 1,843, the reigning champions never left first gear, and neither did the home support, on a rather subdued night on and off the pitch. But Perth was understandably pleased with his players’ performance.

“The ground was very flat tonight. We were a little bit flat in the second half, but that’s our 17th goal in four games. We’re doing okay. To win any League of Ireland game 3-0, you have got to do well,” he said.

“We’re probably disappointed in the second half, but there was a little bit of game management there and seeing it out, protecting people. We’ll go again come Friday against UCD – it’s always difficult to play the same team twice.

“The goals were very, very good. I think we probably overplayed it a little bit around the final third and could have had a few more goals. But we can’t be too disappointed, we can’t be too despondent. The lads are in a good place.”

Duffy was back in flying form with two goals and an assist for Patrick Hoban. His two strikes could not have been more contrasting, with the first from distance before a close-range second, and Perth has encouraged his wingers to get into such positions.

“Michael’s goal was brilliant,” Vinny said on the opener. “I thought Pat’s movement for the second goal, he showed the feet and he spun in behind. There was a brilliant weight on his pass and we’ve been saying to Michael ‘score from 25 yards, grand, but the one from four-five yards counts just as much’.

“I think you’ve started to see our wingers really adding to their goals this year. It’s something we’ve added to the group. We’re in a good position and we’ve got to remain confident going into the business end of the season.”

At this stage, Dundalk need just six more wins to guarantee another league title, but their lead at the top may be reduced to four points once again when Shamrock Rovers take on Waterford at Tallaght Stadium on Tuesday night.

But Perth says he can only concentrate on what happens at home, with the head coach pointing to proud loss and goals conceded columns.

“We can only control the controllables. We’ve never really focussed on other teams too much,” he said. “The only time we’ll focus on anybody we’re playing is for the two weeks before we play them – we really analyse them and make sure we’ve done all our homework. We’ll continue to do that.

“We’re in a good place. Ultimately, if we win all our games between now and the end of the season, we run out worthy league champions. We’ve only lost two games all season and conceded 13 goals. It’s something we want to protect between now and the end of the season.

“There is a hunger to do that. But, listen, the second half tonight, the place is a little bit flat here. But we’re after winning 3-0 and are seven points clear with a game in hand; we haven’t done it that often in the history of this club, so we’re in a good place.

“I’ll look forward to going up to UCD, a difficult place, and they’ve improved under their new manager, so we’ve got to be ready.”

For Friday, Dundalk will be able to welcome Chris Shields back after the midfielder missed Monday’s win through suspension.