Cork City v Drogheda United, 8pm
With league leaders Dundalk not in action this weekend, Cork City can take advantage tonight and draw level on points at the top of the Airtricity Premier Division with a victory over Drogheda United.
John Caulfield’s side have won their last three league games and the manager is targeting a crucial three points against a Drogheda side who have found some form and are unbeaten in their last five league games.
“The way I look at it is that we have one cup final. Friday is crucial, we cannot afford to take our foot off the pedal or look anywhere else, because any points we drop now will really hand the title to Dundalk,” Caulfield said.
“It’s another huge game for us. We’ve probably been a pain in the backside for people, because we’re still there and we’ve hung in there all season even though we’ve been written off all year.
"We’re the only team that can give Dundalk a run for it; if we can keep our feet on the ground, give another good performance on Friday night and get another result, then we can keep the pressure on them.”
John O’Flynn has struggled with a knock this week, while Josh O’Shea missed training earlier in the week through illness, but Caulfield is hopeful that both will be available for selection. Long-term injury victim Michael Rafter is still sidelined, while Colin Healy misses out through suspension.
Drogheda, meanwhile, will be without the services of Peter McGlynn, who serves the last of a three game suspension while Gary O’Neill is a doubt as he recovers from a groin injury.
A 1-1 draw against Bray last time out represented a poor display in the mind of manager Damien Richardson and he is keen to make up for that game with a good performance in Turner's Cross.
“We never got going against Bray last week and that was deeply disappointing. It is important to bounce back from a display like that and to give a good performance next time out which happens to be against a title contender like Cork,” he said.
“If we don’t play well this week, we will get beaten comprehensively. There is a big challenge waiting for us against an in-form side and there is some pride that we will be looking to regain.
“I obviously want my team to play at their best but I want the same from Cork too. It is in games like these where you can assess how good you are both individually and collectively and that is a challenge that we will relish. I am hoping that we will do ourselves full justice on Friday.”
Limerick v Athlone, 7.45pm
Limerick team news to follow...
With just five league games to go, Athlone’s fight against relegation is one that’s looking more and more desperate but a win over Limerick would provide a huge boost, especially with UCD not playing until Saturday.
Manager Keith Long will have to plan for the game without the suspended Kevin Knight while on the injury front Stephen Quigley will miss the rest of the season through injury.
John Mulroy and Graham Rusk have both returned to training ahead of schedule and while they won’t feature against Limerick, they stand a chance of returning to help their side attempt to avoid the drop before the end of the season.
Sligo Rovers v UCD (Saturday), 7.45pm
Sligo Rovers play their penultimate home game of the season on Saturday with relegation-threatened UCD the visitors.
It will be a third game in charge for interim manager Gavin Dykes.
He will be looking for his first win after last week’s 2-1 loss to Cork City and also losing to Drogheda United the week previous.
UCD are battling to avoid the drop and currently occupy the promotion/relegation play-off spot in 11th, five points adrift of Bray Wanderers.
There is again a long injury list for the Bit o’Red to deal with for the game.
John Russell and Iarfhlaith Davoren are still out with their foot and calf injuries. Russell has had scans and will see a specialist next week to determine the extent of his injury.
Kalen Spillane may return from his back injury after training for the first time yesterday.
There is a big doubt over Gary Boylan who injured his ankle in training on Tuesday, while there are also doubts about the fitness of Gary Rogers (ankle) and Raf Cretaro (back) but both are expected to be fit.
Long-term absentees Alan Keane and Jeff Henderson remain out though Henderson has returned to running and it is still hoped he will feature before the season ends.
Seamus Conneely will miss the game after picking up his fourth booking of the season against Drogheda.
Gavin Dykes said: “The approach against UCD will be different to playing Cork where we played more on the counter. We will look to press UCD and play football and beat them in the right way.
"With any game it’s about going out and winning individual battles. Myself and Ciaran have a plan for the game and we feel we can go and win the game with it.”
Two defeats in five days puts UCD under more pressure towards the bottom of the table with Athlone Town only a point behind now.
Manager Aaron Callaghan is hoping his side can turn around their season around over the remaining games.
"The last few weeks have been very tough on the lads mentally with the threat of relegation looming. They are however determined to battle right to the end to grind out the necessary results starting with the Sligo game."
Mark Langtry (ankle), Dean Clarke (back), and Tomas Boyle (hamstring) will all continue to miss out for the students and are likely to miss the remainder of the season. Conor Cannon is a major doubt after he picked up an injury in Tuesday's game against Shamrock Rovers.
