Aaron McCarey has described the fixture schedule in the opening weeks of the League of Ireland season as "crazy".
In the first two weeks, Premier Division teams - including McCarey's Dundalk side - played four games.
"The way the league is set up in the opening weeks, I don't think it helps teams," the 27-year-old former Wolves keeper told the Greatest League in the World podcast.
You're playing four games in the first two or three weeks, which, in my opinion, is crazy.
It's a recipe for injuries. You've got no time to recover in between, no time to get on the training pitch.
You want to be on the training pitch at the start of the season, implementing the way that you want to play.
McCarey joined Dundalk from Warrenpoint Town on a two-year deal just prior to Christmas.
🎙 PODCAST | Fourth episode of #GreatestLeagueInTheWorld featuring...
▶️ @DundalkFC keeper @mccareyA1
▶️ @bfcdublin U19 coach & @FAICoachEd coordinator @CraigSexton1
▶️ @CorkCityFC poet @tonymtobin1
iTunes ➡️ https://t.co/PjSqZa9s6Z
SoundCloud ➡️ https://t.co/3fyhgOSPII pic.twitter.com/CtaioqCSMZ— SSE Airtricity League (@SSEAirtricityLg) March 3, 2019
"It's settling down now; it's a game a week for the next four or five weeks and we'll see a more realistic rhythm coming into the league," said McCarey.
"Teams will be able to prepare better for the games - they've got a full week in between. You'll start to see results going how you think they should go before. In the opening couple of weeks, teams took points off each other where you probably wouldn't expect."
Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile