Preview: St Patrick's Athletic vs. Drogheda United - prediction, team news, lineups

St Patrick's Athletic will be attempting to get back to winning ways at the first time of asking after suffering a defeat in their last outing when they host Drogheda United.

The visitors are currently sitting just above the relegation zone, and even though they do have a 10-point gap on the team below them, they will not be wanting to get dragged into a late panic.

Match preview

After two games without a loss, St Patrick's Athletic were defeated 2-1 in their most recent outing when they faced the current league leaders Shamrock Rovers.

A 93rd-minute goal from Eoin Doyle via the penalty spot was not enough to get any points for them, after they had already conceded twice in the space of 10 minutes during the second half.

That was St Patrick's fourth home defeat of the season, which is a feat they will not be looking to repeat on Friday night when they welcome Drogheda United to Richmond Park.

The club are currently just five points away from a place in the top three, which gives them plenty to play for throughout the rest of the campaign.

Offensively they have been strong throughout this season, scoring 29 times across their 22 fixtures to this point, and that will be something they look to push against one of the weakest defenses in the league.

The visitors have conceded 32 goals so far, which is the third-worst record in the Irish Premier, and a lot of those problems have come away from home where they have let in 18 of them.

Despite that, Drogheda were able to keep a clean sheet during their most recent outing as they took a point during a goalless draw against Sligo Rovers.

This was the third game in a row where Kevin Doherty's team shared the points, and that trio of games followed two consecutive victories, with the squad having a five-game undefeated run.

This has helped them create a 10-point gap between them and the relegation zone with Finn Harps looking to put some pressure on them as they push towards the end of the season.

Away from home Drogheda have only managed to pick up one victory throughout the campaign, with their form on the road being their weak point.

Team News

Jack Scott was brought into the back four for St Patrick's Athletic during their most recent outing with Sam Curtis dropping out of the team to make way, which could be repeated again.

At the other end of the field Doyle is expected to lead the line as a lone striker for the hosts as he attempts to fire them back to winning ways.

After keeping a clean sheet in their most recent outing it would not be a surprise to see Doherty look to use the same back four on Friday in a bid to provide some consistency.

Meanwhile Dean Williams has been performing well offensively as of late, and the striker will likely retain his place in the team.

St Patrick's Athletic possible starting lineup:

Anang; Scott, Redmond, Grivosti, Breslin; O'Reilly, Forrester; Burns, King, M. Doyle; E. Doyle

Drogheda United possible starting lineup:

McCabe; Heeney, Quinn, Weir, Massey; Nugent, Brennan, Rooney; Clarke, Deegan; Williams

We say: St Patrick's Athletic 1-1 Drogheda United

Away from home Drogheda United have struggled a lot throughout this campaign, but the recent form that they have found could make them a threat in this particular game.

St Patrick's are much higher in the league table and they will be wanting to push themselves into the top three, but a seeing both teams share the points is how things could end up.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.