Champions Dundalk hope to avoid a third straight league defeat for the first time since 2012 when they host second-placed Bohemians tonight.
The out-of-sorts Lilywhites are reeling having slipped to fourth after back-to-back defeats to Sligo Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.
And Friday’s 2-1 loss at the Showgrounds means that Vinny Perth’s charges are now 13 points behind leaders Shamrock Rovers, although they have two games in hand.
In the wake of that defeat, ex-assistant Perth conceded “this is not the Dundalk that I’ve been associated with” and acknowledged he would ‘look in the mirror and see what’s wrong’.
Dundalk have not lost three on the spin in the league since Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers and Derry City turned them over in 2012 when Darius Kierans was in temporary charge.
Ahead of this Gypsies clash, Dundalk goalkeeper Gary Rogers said: “We were disappointed with how things went on Friday.
“The start we had wasn’t great and we were on the back foot from there. We didn’t create enough clear cut opportunities to get anything from the game.
“We haven’t got the results that we’ve wanted and it’s tough at the moment but better to have that now than later in the season.
“It’s disappointing but we’ll move on and try get back on track. Bohemians have had a fantastic start to the season. They’re on a high at the moment.
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“They’ll be tough for us and they’ll be confident coming to Oriel but we want to get back to winning ways. We’ve been good at home and the aim tonight is to get the three points. “
Bohs dug out a precious 1-0 win away to bottom sided Finn Harps on Friday and hope to eat into Shamrock Rovers’ eight-point lead over them tonight.
Gypsies boss Keith Long said: "Irrespective of Dundalk's current form, Oriel Park is a very hard place to go to. They're champions for a reason.
"I can't remember the last time Dundalk lost twice in-a-row so they’ll want to right that.
"We’ve done well in recent weeks so we'll go up confident and we'll have belief in ourselves. We need to put in a good performance and we'll see where that takes us.”
Long added: "It's a big test for us but I'm excited to see how we can perform against a team of Dundalk's quality.
The Lilywhites' cause won’t be helped by doubts over versatile Sean Hoare who has switched from defence to midfield in recent weeks. He requires a late fitness test.
Sean Murray (groin) joins the lengthy injury list where Chris Shields and Robbie Benson are still sidelined while this game comes too soon for Patrick McEleney who is back in training.
Bohs have no injury concerns and centre-back Rob Cornwall returns from suspension.
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