Longford Town v Derry City, 7.30pm
Derry City travel to Longford on Saturday evening looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing home defeat to Bohemians last week.
Both teams currently have 12 points in the table and will be hoping to break away from the sides below them in the standings with a win.
City boss Peter Hutton said: “Longford are always a very difficult opponent particularly when they are at home, and the results they have behind them this season so far shows that. They will come in off the back of a convincing three nil victory on the road last week and even though they are a newly promoted side they have a lot of premier division experience in their squad.
“When we look back at Friday evening I felt we played very well and controlled large spells of the game, unfortunately we made a couple of mistakes that cost us in the long run.
“Delaney in the Bohs goal pulled off some excellent saves and in particular one towards the end from a Cillian Morrison header, so on another night the result could have gone for us.
“But that is now in the past and we need to get focused for the game on Saturday and the lads have been very positive in training all week. They are really looking forward to showing what they can do come Saturday night.”
Derry will travel to Longford without Patrick McEleney (groin) Philip Lowry (groin) and Stephen Dooley (back), while Ryan McBride misses out as he is suspended for this game.
Sligo Rovers v Limerick, 7.45pm
Limerick visit the Showgrounds on Saturday night for a game that concludes the first series of games in the Premier Division.
Rovers drew the last home game with Bohs 0-0 but slipped to a 3-0 loss to St Pat’s last Friday at Richmond Park and currently sit tenth in the league.
The Bit o’Red have an impressive home record against Limerick having not lost a game to the Shannonsiders at the Showgrounds since 1991.
Centre-half Gavin Peers is out and likely to face another week on the sidelines with his groin injury. last week but he was able to return to light training this week.
Jeff Henderson, meanwhile, remains a long-term absentee but John Russell’s foot injury that kept him out of the Pat’s game shouldn’t prevent the midfielder lining out against Limerick.
Two of manager Eoin Heary’s recruits from Bohemians, Eoin Wearen and Kevin Devaney, are both now over recent viruses.
Heary is searching for an improved performance from his side following the disappointment of last week’s defeat at Inchicore.
“We have worked hard during the week on a lot of different stuff. We will have to take some lessons from last week’s game into tomorrow and will be aiming for a much-improved and more positive performance.
“We are helped by having John Russell back with his experience and Kevin Devaney as well. We have a lot of players back and there is only really Peers out with Jeff being out long-term.
"So it will be good to have more bodies available which is a positive.”
Meanwhile, Limerick manager Martin Russell is hoping his team can display the “same type of commitment, attitude and ability” that earned them a point last weekend, when for their visit to the the Showgrounds.
The Shannonsiders were just four minutes from their first win of the season against Shamrock Rovers at Jackman Park, until the Hoops’ pressure eventually paid off with Brandon Miele’s late equaliser.
That 1-1 draw – which stopped a three-game losing streak – leaves Limerick three points adrift at the bottom of the table, with tonight’s opponents Sligo and Bray Wanderers next closest to them.
Russell’s side now make the trip to face the Bit O’ Red – whose sole victory in their ten games so far came at Galway United three weeks ago – looking to close that gap. And the manager believes they are capable of doing so.
“There are still so many games to go and so many big six-pointers, if you want to call them that, but we will do the best we can to make sure we have our fair share of points,” said Russell.
“I’ve seen Sligo play against Galway recently and I’ve seen them on TV as well. I think at the start of the season the squad that Owen [Heary] has assembled would have expected to be higher in the league.
“I think, like us, they may feel that they should have more points on the board that their play deserved. We know it’s not going to be an easy game going to The Showgrounds.
“But it’s a good surface to look forward to playing on and if we show the same type of commitment, attitude and ability that we showed last Saturday then I think we’ll do well.”
Limerick have no suspensions to contend with. Experienced left-back Robbie William (thigh) resumed training this week and is expected to return to the squad.
Last season, Sligo won the first two meetings – 3-0 at Thomond Park and 2-0 at The Showgrounds in Russell’s first match in charge in July. In the last encounter, on Shannonside in October, Limerick recorded their first win over Sligo in ten years thanks to Rory Gaffney’s early second-half header.
