National League: The absence of key Cork City players George O'Callaghan and John O'Flynn from the title holders' game at Richmond Park this evening may look like a decent break for the home side but St Patrick's Athletic manager John McDonnell sees plenty of other dangers lurking as his remodelled side prepare to take on the southerners.

"If we're going to win the game then we probably need to make sure Roy O'Donovan doesn't see too much of the ball, we'll have to work hard to contain Neale Fenn who has been doing very well for them in recent weeks, while Joe Gamble has been fantastic, so he'll require a bit of attention too," he said.

"We're not going to do anything too drastic, though, because when the other teams being tipped for the title this year have come to Richmond Park this season we haven't been too far off them. We're better equipped to be playing teams of that quality than we were last year and we'll have the confidence to have a go again against Cork."

The Dubliners have injury problems of their own with Mark Rutherford, Stephen Caffrey and Colm Foley amongst the players ruled out but Mark Quigley and Anto Flood are available again and McDonnell insists he will be in a position to start with what he considers to be a strong team.

City, meanwhile, will be short of only one player - O'Callaghan - from the side that started against Drogheda in the Setanta Cup final but the highly influential midfielder is sure to be missed.

The 26-year-old admitted yesterday it would be three to four weeks before he is fit again. "It's gotten to the stage now where I can't even kick a ball," said the Corkman who limped out of last week's game early in the second half despite three injections over the course of the day designed to help him perform through to the end.

Without him and last year's top scorer, O'Flynn, City must look to end a run of just about four hours of football without a goal but they will be heartened by the fact that they have won six and lost just one of the league encounters between the clubs during the past two seasons.

Fresh from their Setanta Cup triumph last week, Drogheda resume their pursuit of a first ever league title when they take on Longford Town at home this evening.

Paul Doolin is still without Shane Barrett (ankle) while James Keddy (hamstring) could also miss out. There are doubts too about Brian Shelley (chest infection) and Jason Gavin (head injury) which could force significant changes to the back four.

"We celebrated here on Sunday but since then the lads have settled back down well," says Doolin. "We could be missing a few people but we've got good players - the likes of Steven Gray, Derek Tyrrell and Damien Lynch - to come in so we can't complain."

Second-placed Derry head for Waterford this evening without Clive Delaney or Gareth McGlynn both of whom have been sidelined by serious knee injuries but Mark Farren (ankle) and Eamon Doherty (back) are both also out for this evening's visit to the RSC.

The club could make a move to re-sign former Northern Ireland international Darren Kelly next week with the defender suggesting yesterday he would happily consider a move back to the Brandywell from Portadown despite reported interest from Stockport County, Linfield and Glentoran

FIXTURES: Premier Division (7.45): Bohemians v UCD, Bray Wanderers v Dublin City, Drogheda United v Longford Town, St Patrick's Athletic v Cork City, Waterford United v Derry City.

First Division: Limerick v Dundalk (7.30), Monaghan United v Athlone Town (8.0).