Preview: Sligo Rovers vs. Bohemians - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, travel to Sligo sitting four points behind second-placed Derry City with two matches in hand on them.

Match preview

Having finished in the top five positions in each of the last four seasons, Sligo would not have expected to be involved in a relegation battle this time around.

Admittedly, with University College Dublin sitting 12 points adrift at the bottom of the table, Sligo appear to be embroiled alongside Drogheda United and Cork City in a race to avoid finishing second-bottom, which would mean playing against the runners-up of the second tier in a relegation play-off tie.

Sligo missed out on an excellent opportunity to put some distance between themselves and second-bottom Cork by losing away to UCD last Friday, which represented an embarrassing result given that their opponents had lost eight consecutive matches heading into the contest.

John Russell, who is facing some pressure in his first ever managerial role, was left furious by his side's lack of concentration, with two late goals for the hosts turning the match on its head and leaving The Bit O'Red only two points clear of danger.

Bohemians, meanwhile, are aiming to build on two successive mid-table finishes by aspiring for even greater things this season.

Former Derry City boss Declan Devine has enjoyed a decent time of things since taking over at Bohemians last November, but only one win in their last eight matches has thwarted the club's hopes of winning their first Irish Premier Division title since retaining their crown in 2009.

With reigning champions Shamrock Rovers moving seven points clear at the summit by beating Devine's former club earlier this week, Bohemians could end up fighting with several teams to finish as the best of the rest, and they will sense a major chance to lay down a marker against a desperately out of sorts Sligo outfit on Friday.

However, Devine has been around the block long enough to know that nothing can be taken for granted in football, especially with their opponents fighting to remain above the dreaded dotted lines.

Having come from two goals behind to claim a precious point against Shamrock last time out, though, they will have plenty of confidence of claiming their first win in four weeks.

Sligo Rovers League of Ireland Premier form:

L

W

L

L

D

L

Bohemians League of Ireland Premier form:

D

D

W

L

D

D

Team News

Sligo's situation is clearly being hampered by several injuries, with Conor Walsh, Garry Buckley, James Finnerty, Gary Boylan, Mark Byrne and Karl O'Sullivan all expected to be ruled out of Friday's match.

Estonia international Frank Liivak could start at The Showgrounds after only being used from the bench during his side's damaging 2-1 defeat to UCD last time out, with Niall Morahan potentially moving into a more natural central midfield role as a result.

Bohemians, meanwhile, could reward James Clarke with a starting berth after the attacking midfielder came off the bench to claim a point against league leaders Shamrock last Friday.

Keith Buckley may make way for the 22-year-old, with Adam McDonnell dropping into a deeper role alongside Jordan Flores in the visitors' engine room.

Sligo Rovers possible starting lineup:

McNicholas; Brannefalk, Mahon, Pijnaker, Lafferty; Liivak, Morahan, Cawley, Fitzgerald; Mata, Radosavljevic

Bohemians possible starting lineup:

Talbot; Horton, Nowak, Radkowski, Kirk; McDonell, Flores; Coote, Clarke, Akintunde; Afolabi

We say: Sligo Rovers 1-2 Bohemians

Although Sligo's form has been drifting for some time now, very few people could have foreseen them falling to a defeat against the division's whipping boys UCD last weekend, and Bohemians will surely smell blood as a result.

With Devine's side having two games in hand on all of the sides above them in the table, they can not be ruled out of the title picture just yet, especially having prevented Shamrock from beating them last time out. We predict a narrow away victory.

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