Longford vying for victory

Under pressure Longford Town will be desperate for a victory as they entertain Shamrock Rovers in tonight's eircom League of Ireland clash at Flancare Park, kick-off 7.45pm.

Kevin Doherty returns for Town having missed the last game through suspension but there will be no debuts for new loan signings Ian Ryan and Jamie Duffy as they are on loan from tonight's hosts.

Dessie Baker remains out injured for Alan Mathews' side.

The Hoops are without long-term casualties Paul Shiels, Eric McGill and captain Aidan Price, while Barry Murphy (back) and Derek Pender (calf) also remain unavailable.

New signings David Tyrrell (Bray Wanderers) and Alan Reynolds (Waterford United) are in the squad, but there are doubts about the fitness of leading scorer Tadhg Purcell.

"Tadhg has a groin problem and we won't know whether he'll make it until just before kick-off," said Hoops boss Pat Scully.

"John Martin can't play as that's part of the deal with Longford Town."

"Longford have good players. The fact that Drogheda, Pat's and Bohs - the three richest clubs in the league - are looking at some of them shows that they have quality.

Scully added: "No disrespect to them, but they are bottom of the table so if we want to progress and challenge for the league we need to get three points from this game.

"It'll be tough. But if we want to get into the top three we know what we have to do: perform as well as we are capable of and become more clinical in front of goal."