Both aiming to bounce back from defeats last time out, Drogheda United and Shamrock Rovers will square off at United Park on Friday. The two sides are fighting at opposite ends of the League of Ireland Premier Division at the halfway mark of the campaign, with the hosts four points adrift of automatic safety while their visitors will bid to narrow their gap to the top two. Drogheda United return to United Park on Friday with the aim of improving their standing at the bottom end of the League of Ireland Premier Division table, having again suffered back-to-back defeats in what has been a difficult first half to the season.
After finishing seventh last time around, 10 points clear of the bottom two, the Drogs currently sit ninth in the relegation playoff place, having earned just 15 points from their 17 outings thus far, winning just three of those while suffering eight defeats. Following consecutive losses at the hands of Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic in late April and early May, suffering a 4-0 beating at the hands of Friday's visitors in their first meeting of the campaign, the most recent of their three-point hauls came at home to Dundalk, as Hayden Cann netted the decisive goal in a 2-1 triumph in the 94th minute, but Kevin Doherty 's side have failed to build on that since, adding just one more point to their tally in three further attempts. A 1-1 draw with Shelbourne followed, before the Drogs lost 3-2 at home to Galway United in agonising fashion, having led.
