Dundalk FC vs. Longford Town

Leaders Dundalk will extend their cushion at the top of the eircom League of Ireland First Division to five points this Thursday night, if they overcome the challenge of Longford Town at Oriel Park (kick-off 7.45pm). The pacesetters saw their advantage cut to just two points last weekend and will now need to continue their excellent recent form at the border venue as just seven games remain in this year’s title race.

The Lilywhites, who are going in search of their seventh straight home win in the league, come into this game after being sucker punched by a late, late leveller in Monaghan last Sunday. Within moments of their first win at the ground in over two years, Dundalk let the lead slip for a second time deep into injury-time as the game finished in a 2-2 stalemate - a result which understandably annoyed manager John Gill.

“Sometimes, we have an awful habit of taking two steps forward and one step back,” Gill told dundalkfc.com. “We controlled the game, we were the better side, we had three points in our grasp and we let it slip with 30 seconds of injury-time left. It would have been a superb victory, but that’s football. It can be a very unforgiving game.

“None of the top three clubs have won down there this year and teams will struggle there between now and the end of the season. People will say we were this, that and the other, but, at the end of the day, it’s still a point. We have to put it behind us now and focus on the next seven games. We’re still two points clear and we’ll put last weekend behind us and focus on the task in hand on Thursday.”

Meanwhile, Ben Whelehan, who captained the side for the second game in succession in Monaghan, feels a flawless home record between now and the conclusion of the campaign could be the key to promotion. However, while hoping for such a scenario, the central defender is wary about looking beyond Dundalk’s next outing, which will be the first of the four still left to play at Oriel Park this season.

“It’s important now for us to win our remaining games at Oriel,” Whelehan wrote for the DFC Matchday Magazine, “and to get what we can away from home. Hopefully, that will be enough for us to clinch it. The next game is always the most important one - I know that’s an old cliché - but it really, really is. If we can win the next two or three games and go into the final few matches with a little bit of a gap, it puts us into a good position.”

Dundalk, beaten just once in their last thirteen outings, have not drawn at Oriel since the last time Longford visited back in May. Since the opening week of July, the Lilywhites have rattled off six straight wins at the ground - against Athlone Town, Monaghan United, Wexford Youths, Waterford United, Kildare County and Shelbourne - and another victory here will guarantee that they sit at the summit for the eleventh straight week.

For their part, Longford, now managed by ex-Dundalk player Vinny Perth, saw a three-match unbeaten run since the Dubliner took charge come to an end last Saturday evening when they were beaten 3-0 by title chasing Waterford United at Flancare Park. They suffered defeat by the same scoreline when they last met Dundalk in late July, however, in their last four away trips, they have won in both Limerick and Wexford and taken a draw out of Sporting Fingal. Their only loss during that sequence came at Shelbourne. Longford are also one of only three sides to take points off Dundalk at Oriel this term.

Team News: Striker Robbie Farrell, who has scored four goals in the last three games, will be absent for the hosts following his straight red card in Monaghan. The Lilywhites are, however, boosted by the return of four players. Defender Ian Ryan comes back into contention after serving a one-match ban last weekend, fellow centre-half Aidan Lynch (calf) and striker Robbie Martin (knee) are both expected to be available for the first time since 11 July, while veteran hitman Trevor Vaughan is back from honeymoon. However, while both Martin and Vaughan are available, Tiarnán Mulvenna is expected to start in attack in place of the suspended Farrell. Midfielder Paul Shiels, meanwhile, should be fit to play despite receiving stitches to a head wound following a disgusting challenge in Monaghan. Longford have no suspensions.