Cork City interim manager John Cotter is sweating over the fitness of several important players ahead of the visit of the Premier Division champions in the SSE Airtricity League tonight.
Midfielder Gearóid Morrissey, who has missed 4 of the last 5 matches, striker Graham Cummins, and defenders Dan Casey and Pierce Phillips are all carrying knocks and will be given a chance to prove their fitness ahead of kick-off.
Garry Buckley misses out through suspension.
It's a massive game for the Leesiders who would seem to have turned their season around, following the departure of former boss John Caulfield, with back-to-back wins against Bohemians and UCD.
"All you can do is take things game by game," Cotter said ahead of the game at Turner's Cross.
"Training has been very good; the two wins have helped to build a bit of confidence and, hopefully, we can go out tomorrow and put in another good performance in front of a good crowd."
Cork City's interim boss John Cotter wary of Dundalk
Cotter admits that the visitors, who returned to the Premier Division summit last week, are back in the groove again after a patchy start to their own season.
"Dundalk were missing a few key players earlier in the season, so there was no doubt that they would climb up the table when they got them back. We have had some great games against them over the years and hopefully tomorrow will be another."
A win against Bohemians at Dalymount Park helped the Lilywhites into first place and extended their current unbeaten run to seven games, something that their midfielder Patrick McEleney is hoping that they can continue.
"It’s a good dressing room at the moment," McEleney told dundalkfc.com. "We want to be challenging and we need to go on runs like we have been over the past few weeks.
"We did that last year and to be up around the top this is the form that we need to be in, we have managed to go a few games unbeaten so long may it continue."
"We are looking forward to the game," he added. "Cork have had a bit of form over the past few weeks with the two wins but we will be ready."
Top scorer Pat Hoban is back in contention after serving a one-match ban while centre-half Sean Hoare is serving a similar ban for five yellow cards.
Midfielder Jamie McGrath (foot) remains out along with long term absentee Robbie Benson while the club say Jordan Flores is nearing full fitness.
Defender Stephen Folan could make a first appearance of the season after making a return to training while striker Daniel Kelly will undergo a late fitness test.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
