Derry City -v- Dundalk

• Gareth Maher
• Fri, Sep 04 2009


With financial worries escalating, Derry City are starting to feel the pressure at a time when Dundalk have their sights set on breaking into the top four.

The Candystripes will be hoping to bounce back from a 3-1 defeat to Galway United and take the three points on offer in this fixture to close the gap on Shamrock Rovers in second place.

Stephen Kenny has winger Liam Kearney back in the squad, but will be missing Ger O'Brien, Steven Gray, Kevin Deery, and Sammy Morrow, so changes will be needed.

Another player that the hosts won't be able to call on is centre-back Mark McChrystal, who recently parted company with the Brandywell outfit.

"We were punished by defensive errors (against Galway) and obviously I'm not happy about that," said Kenny.

"But I'm confident we can up our form again at home to Dundalk."

For Dundalk, there are hampered by injuries to James Creaney and Simon Kelly, but Michael Collins and Shaun Kelly could recover in time to feature in the game.

Chris Turner and Tiarnan Mulvenna are both suspended for Sean Connor's side, although Ger Rowe returns after serving a one-match ban.

A switch in midfield is expected, which should result in Paul McAreavey earning a rare start alongside Michael Daly, unless Rowe is asked to occupy a midfield role.

"We have done well against Derry this season, but the Brandywell is always a difficult place to go, so we're well aware of the task facing us," said Connor.

"We have a couple of suspensions and some injury worries, but I'm confident that the squad can cope with those."

Extratime.ie Prediction: 1-1