DUNDALK PLAYMAKER PATRICK McEleney says he won’t move to another SSE Airtricity League club but has not ruled out a potential cross-channel transfer.

Dundalk relegated Galway United from the Premier Division on Friday evening at Eamonn Deacy Park, with McEleney scoring another superb goal in the 4-3 victory.

The 25-year-old Derry native — who has represented both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at underage level — scored 10 league goals in 2017 as Dundalk finished second behind Cork City in the top flight.

Having spent time in the youth ranks at Sunderland, McEleney will be the subject of speculation again during the off-season. However, he won’t move elsewhere in Ireland.

“There’s a chance I’ll stay with Dundalk, of course,” he said. “My view now is just the FAI Cup final and I’ll take it as it comes after that. We’ll wait and see. I’ll weigh everything up, there are no decisions being made yet. But I’m a Dundalk player. If I’m staying in Ireland I’ll be at Dundalk.”

Dundalk clash with rivals Cork City in the FAI Cup final — for the third year in a row — this Sunday. The Lilywhites won the silverware as recently as 2015 but lost last year’s final 1-0 against the Leesiders.

“I got my goal against Galway and played nearly an hour so I’m really pleased,” said McEleney. “We’ll get a good week under our belts and look forward to the final now.

“We’ve worked really hard towards it and it will be a big day for everybody. We want to set it right, we didn’t do too well last year and myself included.

“We have won the League Cup and missed out on the league but we are judged on winning trophies so that’s the main thing.”

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