Hoops hoping to put defeat behind them
Champions Shamrock Rovers will bid to bounce back from their shock 5-1 loss to St Patrick’s Athletic last time as they host Dundalk at Tallaght Stadium tonight (8pm).
Dundalk drew 0-0 with Shelbourne last week then followed that up with an EA SPORTS Cup win over Longford Town while the Hoops beat SD Galway in the same competition on Monday.
Rovers are missing Kerrea Gilbert (hamstring), Ciaran Kilduff (broken metatarsal), Stephen O’Donnell (knee cartilage) and Conor Winn (back) through injury.
Dundalk continue without Nathan Murphy (toe) and Mark Griffin (groin). Eoghan Osborne is fit after a year out with a fractured tibia but is unlikely to be risked. Ben McLaughlin is available after being rested for the win over Longford.
"Everyone was disappointed, to say the least, with the defeat last Friday," Hoops boss Stephen Kenny said.
"And I think how we respond to it is very important. It’s always important to respond to a defeat like that in a positive way, to roll our sleeves up and make sure that we’re willing to fight hard for each other on the night.
"We’ll need to work extremely hard to get the desired result against Dundalk and get that game against St Pat’s out of our system.”
Dundalk defender Liam Burns said Tallaght Stadium was never an easy place to visit.
"They have won the league twice on the bounce for a reason, and it’s going to be a very hard game," he said.
"We have got to go there and concentrate on ourselves and what we do. I think we have got players up front who can maybe hurt them. They’re expected to win every game no matter who they’re playing.”
Tonight's tie also comes in the week that marks the 25th anniversary of Rovers' final game at Glenmalure Park in Milltown.
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