Keena has been in excellent early season form for the Saints netting three goals, two against Sligo Rovers and another in the narrow defeat to John Caulfield’s Galway United. The ex-Hearts of Midlothian, Hartlepool, Queens’ Park, Dunfermline, Falkirk, Sligo Rovers and Cheltenham Town front man has now chalked up three of the SWI monthly awards – winning the previous two back in 2022 while with Sligo Rovers. The forward was capped twice at Ireland U21 level by his current club manager Stephen Kenny who handed him his debut against Armenia in Yerevan in November, 2019 and he played again in a 4-1 win over Sweden a week later in Dublin. The 25-year old was the League of Ireland’s top goal-scorer in 2022 with 18 goals (21 in all competitions) for the Bit O’Red and was also named on the PFAI Team of the Year that season. “You want to try and improve as a player every year and that’s why I do that extra bit in training and, at this stage, I do it without thinking about it," began Keena. “Goals give you confidence as a player, and especially as a striker, and that helps to being out the best of you. “St Pat’s have been spoken about as potential league champions but I think you could say that about a few clubs. There are no real bad teams in the Premier Division, and judging by the results so far, clubs have been up and down and it all makes for a very competitive league. "Drogheda have been excellent so far but it’s hard to predict how things will pan out later on in the year. “It’s been great for me to be back working with someone like Stephen Kenny and he’s given me this opportunity. He has faith and belief in me and that in turn gives me confidence."