St Patrick's Athletic will look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier Division when they host Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers at Richmond Park tonight, kick-off 7.45pm.

St Pat's are on a high after they secured their first away victory in a European competition as they defeated JFK Olimps 1-0 on Thursday night.

St Pat's are on a seven-game unbeaten run, but Rovers are also in form having steadied the ship with recent wins over UCD and Galway United.

Johnny McDonnell will be without Noel Haverty, who injured his hamstring in the UEFA Cup victory.

Gary O'Neill could be in line for a return after a spell on the sidelines with a groin injury. Want-away striker Joseph Ndo will also be absent.

Rovers travel to Inchicore without the injured trio of John Martin, Chris Mulhall and Robbie Creevy. Eric McGill and Sean O'Connor are both suspended.

Pat Scully also has doubts over Barry Ferguson (knee), Darragh Maguire (thigh) and Tadhg Purcell (calf), but he expects them to be fit to start.

Scully also said transfer-listed midfielder Stephen Rice is available and could be used if Rovers need him.

Rovers are currently seventh in the table, six points behind Sligo Rovers but with two games in hand. Scully believes a win tonight is not beyond his team despite his respect for St Pat's.

Scully said: 'The attitude of our players has been fabulous and once we keep playing well, there's no reason why we can't get a good result in Richmond Park.

'They are the form team at the moment. I went to see them against Finn Harps and they ripped them to shreds.

'We're going to need a similar performance to the one we
produced against them earlier in the season.'