Dundalk -v- Derry City

• Martin Nicholas
• Thu, Jul 02 2009


Dundalk will look to continue their excellent form at Oriel Park this Friday (k.o. 19:45) against an in-form, but badly depleted Derry City side. The Louth outfit will have their work cut out against a team who have won their last five games and have kept six clean sheets in a row, but Sean Connor will take heart from the fact that his title-challenging opponents will be missing a number of key players.

Stephen Kenny will have to plan without the injured Kevin Deery (calf), Barry Molloy (ankle), and Liam Kearney (leg), while a further trio of Clive Delaney, Stephen Grey and Gareth McGlynn will serve suspensions.

Dundalk will draw inspiration from their surprise victory in Derry earlier in the season, when Darren Mansaram scored the only goal of the game; the Englishman is one of a full panel of players Sean Connor has the luxury of choosing from. His team are on a superb run of form of their own and will be attempting to win four games in a row for the first time since May last year.

Underlining the closely competitive nature of the league, captain Thomas Heary has warned: “We're only five points off bottom, which is not a lot. It’s ten points up to fourth, so we need to bridge that gap. We don’t really want to be looking behind us but obviously you would be wary of teams behind you, but we’ve got to look forward - our aim is to move up.” Victory would see his side consolidate fifth place and celebrate unlikely consecutive victories over “top-four” teams, following their battling win in Turner's Cross against Cork City a fortnight ago.

Last years First Division winners will wait on international clearance before signings Michael Collins and Alex Williams can make their first appearances on the artificial pitch at Oriel Park but the club are, “hopeful that one or both” players will be able to play.

Stephen Kenny remains confident in his side's ability to cope with missing players however, singling out Ger O'Brien for his performances at right-back: “We've been playing well ourselves and it has all the makings of a good game. I've been pleased with Ger O'Brien since he returned from injury, he's settled in well since his arrival from Rovers and his form at right back has given us a boost." With Bohemians travelling to bottom of the table Bray Wanderers, a result is even more important to Derry, after their recent run which has taken them to within a point of the pace-setters.

Extratime.ie prediction: 1-1 - Dundalk have been leaking goals all season and but should find the strength to take something from the match in light of Derry's injury and suspension concerns.