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

The visitors, meanwhile, would move level on points with their opponents by securing an away win, potentially moving outside of the bottom two in the process.

Match preview

Having finished fifth last season, Sligo would not have expected to be involved in a relegation battle this season, but collecting only seven points from their last 10 games has put them in serious danger.

The Bit O'Red almost made it to the group stage of the Europa Conference League last season, impressively defeating Motherwell in the second qualifying round, but they were beaten by Norwegian side Viking FK at the penultimate hurdle.

Now managed by John Russell, who made 130 league appearances for the club across three separate spells during his playing career, the 38-year-old would have been left deeply frustrated by his side recently losing to University College Dublin, who have gained just nine points all season.

After bouncing back with a crucial win against Bohemians, Sligo were beaten by Derry City in their last outing, allowing Cork and Drogheda United each to move a point closer to them in the table.

Indeed, Cork will sense a major opportunity to move level on points with their opponents by beating them on Saturday, which would also move them out of the relegation zone should Drogheda lose to rock-bottom UCD.

Having defeated their key relegation rivals Sligo and Drogheda during a four-match winning streak, Cork have lost two and drawn two of their four matches since, including an impressive away point to second-placed St Patrick's Athletic last time out.

Interim boss Liam Buckley, who previously managed Sligo, has bolstered his ranks with the addition of Lithuania international midfielder Rokas Stanuleviciu in recent days, having already signed Conor Drinan and Tiernan Brooks last week.

Clearly, the newly-promoted side are determined to avoid instantly returning to the second tier at the end of the current campaign, although UCD's perilous position should guarantee that they have a chance to save themselves in a relegation play-off tie as an absolute worst case scenario.

Sligo Rovers League of Ireland Premier form:

L

L

D

L

W

L

Cork City League of Ireland Premier form:

W

W

L

L

D

D

Team News

Sligo are expected to be without Garry Buckley, James Finnerty, Gary Boylan, Mark Byrne and Karl O'Sullivan due to injury.

Having fallen to a last-minute defeat against Derry last weekend, Russell may have been tempted to shake things up in terms of his selection strategy, but his busy treatment table could mean that a similar starting XI takes to the field.

Cork, meanwhile, will travel without Albin Winbo, Darragh Crowley and Ethon Varian, who are all facing some time on the sidelines.

Ruairi Keating will almost certainly lead the line after snatching a point for his side by scoring in the last minute against St Patrick's last weekend.

Sligo Rovers possible starting lineup:

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

Cork City possible starting lineup:

Brooks; Custovic, Hakkinen, Honohan; Bargary, Bolger, Coffey, O'Donovan; O'Brien-Whitmarsh; Owolabi, Keating

We say: Sligo Rovers 1-1 Cork City

Both teams are likely to be scared of losing this fixture given the magnitude of it in terms of shaping the relegation picture, so we can envisage Saturday's meeting at The Showgrounds ending as a draw.

Cork have hugely improved in recent times to give themselves a fighting chance of escaping the relegation zone, whereas Sligo have been in poor form for some time now.

Previews by email