Cork City's Duggan out for three months

St Patrick’s Athletic will be desperate to get back to winning ways when they take on Cork City at Richmond Park tonight, kick-off 7.30pm.

Gary Dempsey (broken leg), Mark leech (broken leg), Gints Freimans (knee) and Bobby Ryan (knee) are all out injured for Saints. John Lester has returned to training, while Jamie Harris and Dave Partridge are suspended.

Pat’s manager Jeff Kenna said: “This is a really big game for us and of course Cork are coming here on the back of a fabulous run of form.

“A really good performance is needed tonight especially in front of our home fans and the TV cameras.

“While we badly need a result it will be important to keep our focus and to keep the belief in ourselves and in our ability.”

City have a lot of injuries ahead of their trip to the capital as Stephen O’Donnell (cruciate), Neal Horgan (elbow), Robert Mezeckis (achilles), Davin O’Neill (ankle), Billy Dennehy (hamstring) and Shane Duggan (ankle) are all missing.

City boss Paul Doolin said: “Shane Duggan went over on his ankle in the Wexford game, and that was confirmed as a broken ankle yesterday, so he is likely to be out for the next three months.

“Stephen O’Donnell returned to training yesterday, but is obviously still limited as to what he can do. He’s ahead of schedule and is doing very well, but he is still several weeks away from a return.

“Billy Dennehy won’t be available this week. We are hoping he will only be out for a week or two, but again, we don’t want to rush him back.

“Robert Mezeckis has also returned to training this week, but he will not be available for selection until next week at the earliest.

“Neal Horgan is still in the early stages of recovery from his injury, and it looks like he will be another four weeks or so, while Davin O’Neill did the warm up on Monday but he is just returning to training after an ankle injury.”