Some new players tomorrow?

fai.ie

In the First Division, Athlone Town face Dundalk at St Mel's Park on Friday night with both sides desperately looking for a victory after disappointing results last week (Kick off 7:45). Town were hammered 4-0 by Finn Harps while Dundalk fell to a 3-1 defeat at home to Sligo Rovers and both managers suggested they may wield the axe ahead of the game.

"We were poor last week," said Athlone boss Jimmy Greene. "We didn't perform at all and I will decide after training whether to make changes. The staff were all talking about it during the week and it's an experimental season and maybe it's time to try out a few things in preparation for next year."

Dundalk are still in the running for promotion, but manager Trevor Anderson is still planning to make changes for Friday's clash. Donal Broughan will be missing once again with an Achilles problem while Craig Dean has returned to England following a family bereavement though Robbie Brunton returns to the squad after his hamstring injury cleared up.

"We can still get promoted, but we need to win our next seven games and our performances and confidence must improve," Anderson said.

The manager, who will celebrate his second month in the job next week, also spoke confidentially about the future. "I love the place, the ground and the people. They have been very supportive of me when maybe they could have given me a hard time and it's up to myself and the players to get the results. I have a two and a half year contract and I hope to have the team established in the Premier Division when it expires."