Shane Blaney
By Liam Porter
Teenage defender Shane Blaney is unlikely to be thrown in at the deep end as Finn Harps try to halt their dismal run of form against Sligo Rovers on Saturday night, but manager Ollie Horgan did confirm that he has now been signed by the club on a senior form.
“We have signed Shane and a few of the younger lads on senior forms, but it is more as a precaution than anything else with the window closed for signing new players we wanted to make sure we have adequate cover from the underage teams if we need it.”
Blaney has been hugely impressive at the heart of the defence for the Finn Harps U17s this year and should Harps manage to halt their slide and ensure safety, then he could taste senior action before the year is out.
However having lost five games on the trot, Harps are far from safe in the Premier Division and Wexford Youths have been closing in on them fast over the past few weeks.
Just five points separate the sides with Longford trailing at the foot of the table on ten points, but while Harps showed an improvement in performance last weekend, they were still left without anything to show for it.
“Sligo are going very well at the minute. They have pace, power, movement and they have seriously improved as the season has gone on. We will be up against it for sure again, but every game we have now is a massive one for us.”
Horgan has a few players with niggly injuries, but apart from Damien McNulty, he is hoping to have a full panel to choose from for the derby game.
Sligo meanwhile will have players missing though and their manager Dave Robertson will have to plan without veteran Raphael Cretaro and Craig Roddan who are both suspended.
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