Patrick McEleney scores for Derry City
In what could be a record night for the league with the possibility of every top-flight match being a sell-out, two games kick-off at 5pm followed by another at the regular 7.45pm.
Second placed Candystripes take on an inconsistent Sligo Rovers who are in fourth spot and have registered two wins so far this year with just a single defeat.
The Bit O’ Red have fallen behind in four of their five matches this campaign and the one game in which they took the lead was with 10-men as they took an unlikely victory over St Pat’s.
City boss Ruaidhri Higgins will be wary of a Sligo side who have shown good attacking prowess and some fine football to go with it.
He has given a cagey update on the availability of their injury players ahead of the visit of Rovers.
Key defender Mark Connolly’s hamstring injury is serious but they are awaiting more details before offering a timeline on how long he will be out.
Adam O’Reilly, Cameron McJannett, Cameron Dummigan and Michael Duffy could return tonight, but Higgins hasn’t offered any clarity.
“The news on Mark’s injury wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for but we’ve asked the specialist for clarity on the recovery process as opposed to just trying to guess a number.
“Obviously we’ve had a few lads out of the squad recently as well and a couple of them have been very close to a return, but we’ll wait and see.
“The players who have come in have done really well and we have the depth in the squad to cope with things a lot better now.”
Higgins was in Sligo to watch their opponents draw 2-2 with Cork City and he was impressed by their desire to rescue a point.
“They did well to show the guts and character to come from 2 down and they never gave up” he said.
“Obviously we’re at home on Friday and the onus is on us to go and attack the game.”
“We’re really pleased with our start- 11 points from 15 is a great effort but we want to try to win the game and go into the break with our run intact.
“We’ve prepared well this week and it’s a match we’re really looking forward to.”
This is the second live game on RTÉ Sport of the season with the Brandywell a sell-out including 350 from Sligo.
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