20.05 24 Jul 2015 -
Referee: Graham Kelly
League Preview: Sligo Rovers -v- St Patrick's Athletic
- Dave Donnelly
- Fri, Jul 24 2015
Sligo Rovers
Sligo Rovers' unwieldy season took another turn for the worse with the departure of Eoin Wearen and Stephen Folan – high-profile recruits in the off-season – for Bohemians and Cork City respectively, and they'll be in for another tough challenge when they welcome St Patrick's Athletic to the Showgrounds (kick-off 8pm).
Sligo were beaten 1-0 by the Gypsies in Dalymount Park last week, despite being a man up for the guts of an hour and creating numerous chances, but can take encouragement from having taken four points from their last two home games.
Interim coach Joseph Ndo told the club's website: “We have to forget about where we are playing. We want to play the same way in every game, it shouldn’t be different if it is home or away. Even in the Longford game I was not satisfied with how we played in the first 20 minutes.
“I know how good this team can be and I have to keep telling them that. They do not know themselves how good they are. We have a great squad. It doesn’t matter what players leave talent-wise we are not lacking, we just have to produce.”
Ndo will be without Jeff Henderson, John Russell, Dinny Corcoran, Morten Nielsen and Kevin Devaney through injury, but Gavin Peers, Danny Ledwith and Liam Flatley are all once again fit and available.
St Patrick's Athletic
St Patrick's Athletic's European campaign may have ended at the first hurdle, but Liam Buckley's side have been in rude form domestically, having won their last six games beginning with the FAI Cup win over Shamrock Rovers.
Two of those victories have come on the road – a 3-0 win in Derry and last week's 1-0 win in Drogheda – and manager Liam Buckley is confident they can extend their domestic winning streak to seven at the Showgrounds.
He told stpatsfc.com: "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 so we'll hopefully be strong on Friday and try and come away with the points."
Buckley could have both Seán Hoare and James Chambers available after they recovered from hamstring and back injuries respectively, while new signing Ian Morris will be available should he receive his international clearance in time, but Christy Fagan remains sidelined with a knee injury.
Referee: Graham Kelly.
MATCH STATS
Sligo Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic have met once this season, with the Saints comfortable 3-0 winners over the Bit o' Red at Richmond Park in April.
The sides met six times last season. Pats won two and drew one of the three league encounters, as well as winning the inaugural Presidents Cup, but went down 7-1 on aggregate to the eventual Setanta Sports Cup champions.
BETTING
Sligo Rovers 5/1; Draw 3/1; St Patrick's Athletic 1/2.
PREDICTION
Sligo Rovers 1 – 2 St Patrick's Athletic.
Sligo Rovers
Injured: Dinny Corcoran, Kevin Devaney, Jeff Henderson, Morton Nielsen, John Russell.
Doubtful: None.
Suspended: None.
St Patrick's Athletic
Injured: Christy Fagan.
Doubtful: Seán Hoare.
Suspended: None.