City manager Ruaidhri Higgins
The Candystripes Derry come into the game at Oriel Park on the back of a 2-2 draw against Bohs and with games ticking away wins are what they really need to put the pressure on Shamrock Rovers.
City are four points ahead of Dundalk in the League of Ireland table.
Higgins has been delighted with the efforts of his players during an impressive run of form over the summer, but he’s well aware of the potential threat of Stephen O’Donnell’s side.
“Dundalk are playing well themselves and we know they’ll be really difficult to beat as they always are” he said.
“They’re still in this race too and they have plenty of title-winning experience between them- especially in that front three- so we know what we can expect.
“As I’ve said before, we’re in good form ourselves, maybe without always getting the results we feel we deserve recently, but we’re only looking ahead.
“They’re all big games from now until the end of the season, and this is certainly one.”
The Limavady man looks set to be without midfielder Sadou Diallo due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Ronan Boyce is doubtful with a knock.
“We have a few bumps and bruises that you expect at this stage of the season but we’ll give Ronan as much time as we can.”
It’s the first of two games in a week for Derry as they are also in Dublin on Wednesday night for their game in hand at UCD.
Last week’s 1-0 defeat against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium, coupled with results elsewhere, saw Dundalk slip into sixth place with just eight league games to play.
The Lilywhites have an enviable home record against the Candystripes.
Since 2013, Derry have won just two league games at Oriel Park, in 2013 and 2021, and Dundalk boss Stephen O’Donnell says his players were confident of maintaining that run against Ruaidhri Higgins’s side.
“They have good players dotted all around the park, they have a good manager and it’s going to be another tight game but we’re looking forward to it,” said O’Donnell.
“We know we need to be on it and alert at all times because they have good pace and quality in the final third.
“They were knocked out of Europe and the FAI Cup recently when they should have probably gone through in both competitions and they created quite a few chances in a ding-dong game against Bohs last week.
“They have big aspirations to win the league but we’ll be ready. We’re training well and we’re working towards a specific goal.
“There is a clarity in what we’re doing which is important going forward.”
Andy Boyle is doubtful after picking up a knock in training but Ryan O’Kane is back in contention after missing last week’s game with Shamrock Rovers with a shin injury. John Mountney and Keith Ward are both making good progress from their respective knee injuries.
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