THE ‘DANI ALVES’ of Tallaght could come back to haunt one of his old clubs this evening.
Dundalk hardly need to be reminded of the threat posed by Simon Madden ahead of their Setanta Sports Cup semi-final first leg against Shamrock Rovers.
Once a Lilywhite, now back at the Hoops for his second spell, Madden was the gamechanger in Friday’s Dublin derby win against Bohemians.
His darting runs and pinpoint crosses led to goals for Ronan Finn and Kieran ‘Marty’ Waters, and also earned the defender a glowing review from manager Trevor Croly.
“Simon, he’s one of the best at it. He’s a Daniel Alves type of right-full that gets forward.
“‘Meep Meep’ and he’s gone,” Croly added. “He’s like the Roadrunner.
He’s fantastic at it. We knew when we signed him what we were getting and you’ve seen that in the games he’s played in the league.He’s scored two goals in back-to-back games as well. That will tell you he gets forward and gives you a great option.
Rovers will be without Stephen McPhail (tendonitis) and Shane Robinson (bruised foot) while Waters (calf) is a doubt following his goalscoring cameo in Dalymount Park.
Dundalk face an even quicker turnaround following their win in Sligo on Saturday night and Richie Towell (hip) is a slight doubt for Stephen Kenny’s side.
Croly admitted that he has some sympathy for Kenny’s side having to face trips to Sligo and Dublin in the space of 48 hours.
“Ideally you’d prefer to have more time but you’ve just got to deal with it. It’s very frustrating but it is what it is.
We all have frustrations and there are things that go against us. I can understand [Dundalk's annoyance].The schedule and the structure of it is probably not ideal.
“You go into pre-season and bang you play so many games so quickly, so you’re going from 0-100. It’s tough.”
Shamrock Rovers v Dundalk, Setanta Sports Cup semi-final first leg, 8pm
