Sligo Rovers face reigning league champions Dundalk on Friday night in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division in The Showgrounds.

Rovers begin the second series of matches having earned a point in Oriel Park on the opening night of the season.

In team news, Ronan Murray is suspended for this game and three more matches following his red card last week against Bohs.

Ed McGinty is doubtful with a finger injury. John Russell is also doubtful.

Liam Buckley said: “I thought we were the better side for good periods against Bohs but the red card and the goal early in the second half were big setbacks.

“We fought well in the circumstances and had a couple of chances but in the end we lost the game and didn’t score on the night. We have to change that and we have to improve upon being decent in patches. 

“We’re trying to build something here over a period of time and it’s a hard, hard league so while we are building, it’s imperative we keep getting points on the board. 

“I’d ask the supporters to stick with the players and get behind them on night’s like these because we are up against the league champions and we know how hard it was to get that point in Oriel. 

“We showed that night a fighting quality, but we have a lot more than that to our game and it’s up to us to show that too.”