Galway United are in Ballybofey tonight for a big relegation six-pointer against Finn Harps – but manager Shane Keegan says as many as eight of his players have been struck down by a vomiting bug this week.
Harps go into the game five points better off than Galway and a win would go a long way to aiding Harps’ survival hopes.
Keegan has seen a raft of his players, including ex-Harps goalkeeper Conor Winn, hit by sickness this week ahead of their trip to Finn Park.
Colm Horgan, Gavan Holohan, Marc Ludden, Ronan Murray, Maurice Nugent and Gary Kinneen have also had to sit out training this week, while Galway are already without Conor Melody through an ankle injury.
“It really hasn’t been ideal preparation, having so many players struck down with a vomiting bug,” Keegan, who saw Lee Grace leave for Shamrock Rovers and Vinny Faherty depart for Sligo Rovers, said.
“A few of the players have returned to training, but they’re under the weather and they didn’t take part in full training sessions. A couple more missed all our sessions and look to be ruled out unfortunately.
“It’s not ideal in terms of getting bodies onto the field, it’s not ideal either when you’re doing match preparations on a Thursday and you’re putting players into the team despite the fact they might not have trained all week.”
Keegan watched Harps in the recent derby against Derry City and believes it will take a mammoth effort from his men.
The Galway boss added: “It’s vital we go up to Finn Park and deliver one of our best performances of the season, regardless of the personnel that are on the pitch. We have a job to do.”
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