Dundalk’s comfortable win over Shamrock Rovers has come at a cost after captain Stephen O’Donnell injured his hamstring and faces a spell on the sidelines.
The setback for the midfielder could not have come at a worse time for Stephen Kenny’s men as they face a fixture pile-up that includes four league games and a Europa League tie against Zenit in the next 14 days.
“I just tweaked my hamstring; hopefully it’s not too bad,” O’Donnell told RTÉ Sport.
“Ten days, two weeks, maybe, hopefully we can take a few days off that.
“I’ll definitely be missing Monday [against Longford] and we’ll see after that.”
O’Donnell lasted just 13 minutes before going off in Tallaght but was relieved as the Lilywhites managed to strike three times in the second half after a frustrating scoreless first period.
He added: “Rovers started off at a high tempo for the first ten or 15 minutes. We knew if we got over that little hump gradually the game would settle down and we’d take over, which is what happened.
“I thought we were dominating in the first half, we created a few chances and then we went a bit flat. We knew if we could get the first goal it would be curtains after that, we limited them to no chances.”
The Louth side are on track for their third Premier Division title in a row, sitting four points clear of Cork City, who beat Finn Harps 2-0 last night.
The skipper admitted that, with an FAI Cup final also ahead, things are heating up.
“There always is pressure especially at this stage of the season,” he said.
“The finishing line is close. The good thing is you don’t have much time to reflect on the matches, you’re straight in looking forward to the next match.
“They are coming thick and fast but the lads are dealing with it very well.
“First and foremost, we’ve always said the league is our biggest priority. We’re close to it but there’s still four games to go, 12 points to play for.”
