Shane Blaney has signed a new contract with Sligo Rovers, keeping him at the club for 2022
The Letterkenny man moved to Sligo from Doncaster Rovers before this season but didn’t feature as much as he would have liked due to injuries.
He returned to the side for the final game of the season against Bohemians as his side finished 3rd in the Premier Division.
Making his debut with Finn Harps in 2017, Blaney joined Doncaster Rovers but couldn’t break into the first team. He joined the Bit O’Red at the start of this year and made 12 league appearances, scoring once.
Blaney said to the Sligo Rovers official website: “I’ve absolutely loved it here to be honest so signing back was a very easy decision. The set-up, the people behind the scenes and just the club overall is top class.
“I love that the town is so engrossed in football and about Sligo Rovers. I came from Under-23 football in England to here where every result counts for so much and the impact of a win or a defeat is huge. It’s what you want as a player.
“The best part of the season for me was when I got the run of games in the summer and it made getting the injury all the worse. It transpired it was a fracture but I was playing through that for nearly all of the games. We only discovered afterwards that it was the case.
“In the end we just had to sort it out so I did miss all those months. It was a bit of a nightmare in truth but we spoke at the club and knew it had to be fixed.”
“Getting back on the pitch against Bohemians meant a lot because I put in a lot of work to be able to play again this year. It wasn’t an injury to rush back from as the risk of it happening again was there without a proper recovery. I was delighted to play and I felt I did well on the night.
“I do feel the injury held me back a lot. I missed pre-season games last year as well and now with the work we’re doing now and pre-season to come, I’ll be ready to go for the new season. Nobody has seen the best of me yet. I can’t wait to show it. There’s great competition, not just at centre-half, but all over the pitch and if we want to go challenge at the top we need that squad.
“Last season is done now, we can be very happy with finishing in the top three but that’s got to be a target every year. The gaffer has been building each season and I feel we have to keep aiming higher. We all know the quality in the squad and I’m very happy to sign again.”
