Newly signed South Korean winger Han Jeongwoo goes straight into the Dundalk squad for Friday evening's Premier Division game against Finn Harps.
The 22-year-old former underage international who was a free agent after having left Suwon FC, trained with the Irish club in recent days and having completed the required paperwork is available to make his debut.
"Han is an attacking player of real quality," says Shane Keegan. "He has great energy, he has pace from a starting position, he likes a trick and he gives us something a little bit different.
“He’s left-footed and that opens up other tactical ideas that we’ll be able to implement. His fitness levels and work rate have blown everybody out of the water and he’s someone that we’re really looking forward to working with.”
Brian Gartland could feature for the home side but Daniel Kelly, Sean Murray and Ole Erik Midtskogen are all ruled out.
Sligo Rovers, who drew with Dundalk last week, feature in the day's later fixture, the televised game at Waterford. "Every match we play is going to be a hard one," says Rovers manager Liam Buckley, who has a full squad to choose from.
“We’ve spent some time working on our fitness and tactics and trying to improve on last week. We go to Waterford looking for the result.”
Cork City face Cobh Ramblers in the night’s opening round of First Division fixtures, meanwhile, while two of the other likely contenders for promotion, Galway United and Shelbourne, meet at Eamonn Deacy Park
Fixtures (7.45pm unless stated): Premier Division: Dundalk v Finn Harps (5.45pm), Waterford v Sligo Rovers. First Division: Cork City v Cobh Ramblers, Galway United v Shelbourne, UCD v Athlone, Wexford v Cabinteely.
