GALWAY United assistant manager Olie Horgan says the players have been warned to expect an incredibly tough test when they head east this Friday to take on Drogheda United in Weavers Park (7.45pm).

The Salthill native has a point: the Louth side have lost just once at home this season, their first home game against Waterford back in February. Since then, there have been three wins and three draws, with the two most recent games on the Windmill Road being a 3-1 win over Sligo Rovers, and a 2-1 win in the Louth derby on the May Bank Holiday Monday.

“First and foremost, we need to have energy up there: they drew with Shelbourne [on Friday night] and beat Dundalk on Monday so they are on a roll. They have a lot of quality, so we need to deal with that. That will be a place that will show where we are at.

“We drew with them here [in Eamonn Deacy Park]. We could have won it, they could have won it, it will be much more difficult up there. It is a tighter pitch, they are a very experienced side and they have stayed in the Premier Division for a reason the last number of years. It will be a serious battle,” he said.

There has been very little in any United game this season, with the 2-0 defeat at home to Bohs being the only one of their 15 games that was decided by more than one goal.

They go to Weavers Park with an away record that is an exact match for Drogheda’s home form: three wins, three draws, and one defeat, though they do have a poor record up in Drogheda, with just six wins from 37 trips to south Louth, the most recent of which was all the way back in June 2010 when Stephen O’Donnell scored the only goal of the game for a 1-0 win for the Tribesmen.

“We need to get energy, and we should get that back. It is a very tough place to go, they’ll ask questions football-wise and physical-wise, and if you are not ready for a battle, you’ll get nothing up there,” he said.

Horgan revealed that a lack of energy was why Vince Borden spent last Friday’s game sitting up with the injured Colm Horgan and the suspended Karl O’Sullivan last Friday night in the scoreless draw with Sligo Rovers.

Pictured: Galway United’s Aodh Dervin on the ball against Sligo Rovers during Friday’s Prenmier Division clash at Eamonn Deacy Park. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.