All games 7.45pm unless stated.
Bohemians v Derry City
Roberto Lopes may have to play a more defensive role again on Friday as Bohemians plan without Anto Murphy, who serves an automatic suspension for his red card last week.
Fellow-defender Lorcan Fitzgerald returns from suspension but is rated a 50-50 chance to start, due to a hamstring injury.
With defenders Derek Pender and Dan Byrne on the long-term injury list, Bohemians will be happy to welcome back Eoin Wearen, a midfielder who can also cover in defence.
Wearen transferred to the north-west with former Sligo manager Owen Heary but has not featured in Sligo's most recent games and returns to his native Dublin. If the paperwork can be completed in time, Wearen could be pressed into action on Friday.
“He’s a very welcome addition, and we hope we can the best out of him. He’s got a lot of quality and he’s a good fit for Bohemians,” said manager Keith Long.
Marc Griffin’s cruciate injury and Dean Kelly’s departure leave Bohs short in the striker department but Long, working with a very modest player budget, continues to look for possible signings in the remaining week of the transfer window.
Derry are looking to end a desperate run of form which sees them level on points with Sligo close to the bottom of the table, and have to go back to April for their last league win.
The Ulster side have no injury concerns but Philip Lowry is suspended.
Galway United v Bray Wanderers
Galway manager Tommy Dunne is looking to consolidate their league position of sixth for the visit of Bray Wanderes who trail the westerners by two points in the Premier Division table.
Dunne said: “We're currently two points ahead of Bray and they've got a game in hand, so we know it will be a hugely important fixture.
"Every game in the run-in will be massive, you've got people talking about having a certain number of points to be safe, I wouldn't be sure that's the best option and it's not how we're looking at things.
"We're looking to pick up as many points as possible between now and the end of the season. We know Bray will be a difficult game, they've appointed Mick Cooke, who is an experienced manager and excellent coach and they're in good form; we're always confident in our own abilities, however, and if we can apply ourselves and bring our own good form into the game, we should get a positive result.”
Andy O'Connell remains unavailable for Galway, while Jason Molloy is 50-50 for the game with a knee injury, while Enda Curran (hamstring) is also struggling.
Mick Cooke is in a positive mood and looking to build on the three points gained by his Bray side against Derry City last time out.
Cooke said: "We have had a good week of training, the players have presented themselves at training with the right attitude and willingness to work hard towards gaining three points against Galway. The training sessions have had a good vibrant atmosphere to them.”
He continued: "The three points against Derry was huge for us, we can now continue to look up the table. I was particularity pleased with the performance against Derry, who are always a tough side to play against".
Bray must plan without Stephen McGuinness (ankle) and the suspended Peter McGlynn, while David Cassidy and Alan McNally are doubts.
Sligo Rovers v St Patrick's Athletic (8pm)
Danny Ledwith, Gavin Peers and Liam Flatley will all return to the Sligo squad having come through the midweek friendly against Motherwell.
However, John Russell, Morten Nielsen, Kevin Devaney and Jeff Henderson are all still out, while Dinny Corcoran won’t play for family reasons. There is also a doubt on the fitness of left-back Regan Donelon who has a tight quad muscle.
Manager Joseph Ndo believes that his team must take their chances and be more clinical: “The demands we have on ourselves are very high. It is not about the number of chances we create in a game, we are more aware of the way that we play. I could easily count the number of games where we did not have chances.
“We have to try to play the way that we want to play in games and when the chances comes we have to be more clinical than we were. Chances will always come but they have to be taken.”
Tuesday saw former manager Ian Baraclough’s Motherwell beat Sligo 2-1 as part of their pre-season preparations and Ndo was very happy to be re-united with his former boss, saying: “I enjoyed it, Bara deserved it. Personally for me it was very emotional to see him back, we had some great times together with this club. I learned a lot from him and I still am as I call him regularly for advice. He was a big part of my career and it was a pleasure to see him again.”
FAI Cup winners St Pat’s head west in fine form, with manager Liam Buckley in confident mood following a hard-fought win over Drogheda last time out.
Buckley said: "We were delighted to get the points last week against a really tough Drogheda side. They didn't make things easy for us, and after a few chances hadn't gone in, some teams would've ended up with a point. But the lads kept plugging away, stayed positive and eventually got their reward for their efforts.
"We're now focused on facing Sligo who are starting to get some results together so we'll need to make sure we apply ourselves right and are ready for the game.
“We've a few extra players available now from last week so we've got great competition for places. We'll hopefully be strong on Friday and try and come away with the points."
Liam Hoare is back in contention following a hamstring injury, as is James Chambers (back), but Christy Fagan remains out with a knee problem.
