LEAGUE OF IRELAND PREVIEWS:WITH JUST one defeat in their last four games, Drogheda United head into this evening's home game against Cork City in decidedly better shape than a few weeks ago when they completed their first series of matches with just three points.

Now, Drogheda manager Alan Mathews is hoping his side can maintain their improvement against his former club, who remain joint top with Bohemians despite losing to their rivals at the weekend.

“They’re a great bunch of players, I know that from having worked with them last year so it’s no surprise to me they’re right up there challenging,” says Mathews.

“But we’re getting to grips with things now and we even got a bit of a break against Rovers on Saturday, which is something that hadn’t been happening to us earlier in the season,” he says.

“So we’ll go into the match very much hoping to get something out of it.

“The lads have been great, to be honest,” he continues.

“It’s a measure of the character they possess as a group that even when things weren’t going well at all they were coming into training with their heads held high and working hard to improve things so as to start getting a few results.

“Now that they’ve done that they’re anxious to kick on and that’s what we’ll be aiming to do over the next few weeks.”

United have Paul Crowley back from suspension but Gavin Whelan is a doubt for the game due to a hamstring problem.

Saturday’s opponents, Rovers, meanwhile, have a virtually full squad for their game against Dundalk with just Shane Robinson’s hamstring to be checked upon during the run up to kick-off time.

Derry City expect to be without Liam Kearney and Barry Molloy for quite a while after the pair picked up serious injuries in last Thursday’s comfortable win at Galway.

Kearney broke a leg, while Barry Molloy sustained a foot injury that could also keep him sidelined for more than a month.

Steve Parkhouse will miss Sligo’s game at the Carlisle Grounds after going over badly on his ankle in training late last week and Romauld Boco is on international duty, but Séan Doherty and Mauro Almeida are in contention to play with both facing late fitness tests.

The league leaders, Bohemians, meanwhile, take on Galway United at Dalymount Park this evening when they will be hoping to maintain a strong run of results against the Terryland Park outfit.

Friday’s win in Cork was achieved without a string of first-team regulars and Pat Fenlon will again be without Mark Rossiter and skipper Owen Heary for tonight’s game.

Stephen McGuinness is also suspended, while Glen Crowe faces a fitness test but the Dubliners still look to have the resources required to get the better of a team that has lost its last three games on the road, even if Fenlon is taking nothing for granted.

“Galway are a very decent side,” he says.

“They try and play the game the right way. They’ll come out and play like they normally do.

“They gave us a difficult game when we went down there. We played well on the night and won the match.

“We’re expecting another tough game,” says Fenlon.