ST PAT’S Aidan Keena is out of tomorrow’s big Dublin derby against Shelbourne with Stephen Kenny unsure when he will be ready to return.
Keena, 25, will miss his second game running with a hamstring problem that boss Kenny insists is not a long-term issue.
But he is unsure when the striker – who has five goals in six starts this season – will be ready to return.
He said: “We’ll see. We’ll see how it goes. There is no definitive timeframe yet.
“It’s just a hamstring injury. I don’t think it will be long-term.”
While Keena remains out, Romal Palmer is also ruled out for around 12 weeks having underwent surgery on a hamstring issue picked up in the 4-3 win over Sligo Rovers.
But better news for the Saints is that Kian Leavy is available for the first time this season after recovering from a knee problem.
Kenny said: “Unfortunately he was injured in pre-season, he was in brilliant form in pre-season so we’ve missed him, and we are delighted to have Kian back.
“I think it’s important, he can cover so many positions for us.
“He is very talented, he really knuckled down in pre-season, worked extremely hard, was very unfortunate to get injured, and he will be an addition to us, for sure.”
The Saints go into tomorrow’s sold-out derby top of the table after winning four of their opening seven games, with the goals flowing recently.
And Kenny insisted they they must now start to hit their stride.
He said: “In our last three home games we have averaged three goals here.
“So what we want to do is create the opportunities, give ourselves the opportunities to do that, to create scoring chances and have that level of creativity in the team.
“Every time we get the ball we must work out ways of creating opportunities through the players’ individual skill and through the variety of patterns in the way that we train.”
