Dundalk has been bolstered by the arrival of a new player ahead of tonight’s match against Finn Harps. South Korean winger Han Jeong-woo was unveiled yesterday as the club look to use this signing to further its fanbase on a global scale.
He has been capped at U18 and U22 level for South Korea. He has played outside of his home country already having moved to Kazakhstan to play in the Kazakh Premier League side Kairat Almaty, he helped them to finish second in the league behind well-known side Astana.
Domestic matters however will be needed to be attended to as they face a Finn Harps side that was buoyed by an opening day win over Bohemians. Dundalk manager Shane Keegan knows what to expect from Finn Harps as Ollie Horgan brings his charges to Oriel Park for the opening home fixture for the current FAI Cup holders.
“It’s a brilliant job. Ollie would be arguably the manager I’d know best in the league. When he was at Harps at first, we were in the First Division for a long time together and then we both came up together and both went down together. We know each other for a long, long time now. He is just doing a phenomenal job, an absolutely brilliant job. I don’t think he’ll like this idea of not being in the bottom two in the betting for relegation this year. It’s a whole new concept for him to have to deal with. But he won’t pay any attention to it. They know what they are, they know what they do, and there are very few changes to them. They just do what they do extremely well.”
Dundalk will be without both Raivis Jurkovskis and Sonni Nattestad who are away with Latvia and the Faroe Islands respectively on international duty, something that has frustrated Dundalk. Despite having players away for international purposes their request to postpone their fixture was not granted.
“Bodies-wise we are a bit light, to be honest. Obviously, we only had a panel of 18 last week, despite being able to take 20. Of those 18, you are looking at another two being gone, with the two lads being away. We are kind of light in terms of quantity, but certainly not quality. We’ll be fine.” commented Keegan.
“There can be no reaction until the next participation agreement is drawn up. We might think the rule is silly, but it is a rule. There is no grey area, in fairness. It just seems very, very strange that in this day and age players can be treated differently, depending on what countries they play for. But it is what it is and the truth is we need to do our homework a little better. There has been a bit of turnover in the last while in terms of staff and we maybe weren’t as clued in as we needed to be. But at the same time, we have plenty of bodies there that we can deal with it.”
While Dundalk under Keegan the system and shape have changed and the signings made by the club have reflected that. Three at the back with wing-backs seems is a preferred choice of line up with a compact midfield with a lone striker being supported by wingers. But will the system change due to the unavailability of some players.
“To be honest with you, we have bounced with both during the week. It doesn’t become impossible for us to play with a back-three, absolutely not. We could go with the quite attacking option of Cammy (Cameron Dummingan) moving across to the right and Darragh (Leahy) playing on the left of the three, with Mickey (Duffy) on the left of the four or five in front of that. We will see what we roll out on Friday night.”
While much has been commented on the superior height advantage of the players that Dundalk has signed in the close season, Keegan knows that Finn Harps bring some height of their own that could cause issues for Dundalk’s defence.
“Land of the giants! You are leaving out a couple as well. (Kosovar) Sadiki, (David) Webster, (Stephen) Folan, (Shane) McEleney, (Ethan) Boyle, (Adam) Foley up top; big, big boys. Obviously, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they are a serious threat from set-pieces, so that has to be a huge area of focus and improvement for us.”
Much praise was heaped on Dundalk’s goalscorer Patrick McEleney, the Derry native is one of the stand out players in the league, one that makes supporters get to the edge of their seats. Keegan knows he has a special player at his disposal.
“If he is fit for the season, I don’t really see any circumstances under which he is not in your top-three challenging for player of the season. He is that good, he is quality. Absolutely everybody knows it. So the key with him is keeping him as close to 100 per cent fit as possible. If we do that, there is no doubt he will have a massive contribution. And if he has a massive positive contribution for Dundalk, then we are going to be right there or thereabouts.”
Dundalk will be without Daniel Kelly, Sean Murray, Ole Erik Midtskogen and Val Adedokun are out but Dundalk could be in a position to welcome back Brian Gartland who is pushing to be back into the matchday squad following a spell on the sidelines. Raivis Jurkovskis and Sonni Nattestad are still on international duty while Dundalk’s new signing Han Jeong-woo is hoping to be included in the matchday line ups after training with the squad on Thursday.
Speaking to dundalkfc.com on his unveiling the South Korean winger stated that “I’m not 100% fit yet but I’m hoping to be involved on Friday night and I’ll be trying to score as many goals and provide as many assists as possible.”
Ciaran Callan
Ciaran Callan is a part-time sports journalist based in Dundalk, Co. Louth. He has more than 10 year’s experience working with media companies including both extensive radio broadcasting experience along with print and digital media reporting for the SSE Airtricity League as well digital media work with the national sports company eirSport. He joined FinalWhistle in February 2021 as is their main correspondent for Dundalk Football Club.