Saints travel to Dundalk with injuries

St Patrick's Athletic will be looking to stay in touch at the top of the table when they visit Dundalk at Oriel Park tonight, kick-off 7.45pm.

Saints boss Pete Mahon has some injury concerns but knows that a victory is needed to remain in contention for league honours.

Mahon said: “Our preparations for the game haven't been ideal.

"We have a number of players injured which has impacted our training sessions this week.

“We are hoping two or three will have recovered, but we need to consider the impact the artificial pitch will have on them before making any decisions.

"Having said that, this is good opportunity for those who haven't featured recently to stake a claim for a starting place in the team for the remaining matches of the season.

"This is a really important game for us, as they all are between now and the end of the season.

"We want to break into the top three and to qualify for Europe through the league."

Mark Griffin is a doubt for Dundalk as he has a groin strain, while Ross Gaynor is also a concern with an ankle injury.

And Dundalk boss Ian Foster must plan without Eoghan Osborne (fractured tibia), Stephen Maher (fractured metatarsal) and Colin Hawkins (knee), while Dean Bennett is suspended.

Foster said: "We've got six games to go and I've got a committed bunch of players.

“Friday night is going to be tough for us. It certainly is, because obviously we played 120 minutes on Tuesday - 45 minutes with ten men.

"We picked up a couple of injuries. Griffin has got a groin injury which will probably rule him out for the weekend. Bennett will be suspended.

"Even on Tuesday, we could only get six subs. Out of those six subs, Stephen McDonnell is not ready and we had a 16-year-old boy (Conor McDonald) on the bench, and that's where we're at, at the moment."