Pat's go into Dublin derby with five injuries

St Patrick's Athletic entertain Shamrock Rovers in tonight's League of Ireland Premier Division clash at the Richmond Park.

For the Saints, Mark Quigley is out with a broken jaw and joins Damien Lynch (ankle), Darragh Ryan (hamstring), Gary Dempsey (leg) and Mark Leech (leg) on the sidelines.

Alan Cawley and Gints Freiman return to the squad but Dave Partridge and John Lester are both suspended.

St Pat's boss Jeff Kenna said: “Rovers beat us 2-0 in the league and also in the League Cup and nobody likes losing matches especially Derby matches.

"They’re a good side, they pose a real threat up front with the likes of Twigg, Baker, Amond and Purcell and we’ll have to show the same levels of intensity as we did against Bohs to get a result on Saturday night.”

For Rovers, Stephen Rice is serving a one-match suspension, while there are doubts about the fitness of defender Darragh Maguire (knee) and goalkeeper Robert Duggan (thigh).

Hoops boss Michael O’Neill said: “Stephen is obviously unavailable, while the other two are recovering from injuries they picked up around the FAI Cup games against Drogheda United.

“Other than those three we are at full strength, which means we’re a lot of competition for places in the starting eleven and the bench against St Pat’s.

“We went into the break on a high, and even though it was only a short break, a week off, everyone came back to training last Monday feeling very hungry for football.

“The training’s been really good all week. The players are refreshed, and looking forward to the challenges facing us in the second half of the season."

Speaking about the trip to Inchicore, O'Neill added: “It’s a tough one, but we have the benefit of having gone there already this season, when we beat them in the EA Sports Cup. They’ve a good squad but we’ll be going there in confidence.

“There’s the derby element to the game, but we’re full of confidence and looking forward to playing in Richmond Park. They have a lovely pitch there and we’ll enjoy it.”