Sligo Rovers are back in action in front of the RTE television cameras this Friday night as the Bit O’Red travel to Dublin for the penultimate time this season, Shamrock Rovers this weekend’s opponents. 

Tallaght Stadium is the venue with kick-off at 7.45pm as Rovers look to pick up their first league victory at the home of the Premier Division champions since 2021. 

The sides come into this tie level on head-to-head form, with both clubs having recorded a victory over each other in 2024. The Hoops beat Rovers in Tallaght back in April, while Sligo put in one of their best performances of the season to beat Stephen Bradley’s charges at the Showgrounds in June, courtesy of a Simon Power brace. The other game between the teams back in March, failed to produce a goal. 

Rovers will be without captain Niall Morahan for this one. The Leitrim man misses out through suspension courtesy of an accumulation of yellow cards. While Stefan Radosavljevic, John Mahon and Conor Reynolds also won’t make the game due to injury. Winger Stephen Mallon will be assessed before kick-off.

On the back of the win over Waterford two weeks ago, Rovers manager John Russell says the competitive nature of this year’s league means every point is crucial. 

“The players and staff have been fully focused the past two weeks and we’re really looking forward to facing Shamrock Rovers”, he says.

“We’ve continued to improve as the season has gone on and now we find ourselves at the business end of the year where everyone has something to play for. That makes for an interesting and intense finish to the season where each team is doing all they can to pick up as many points as possible, which everyone wants to see. 

“Nobody has to remind us how big of a challenge it is to go to Tallaght. But the surface down there is always in top shape and that suits our style of play. 

“It’s vital we play to our strengths for this one and impose ourselves on the game from early on.”

David Goulden