Second-placed Dundalk will move to the top of the eircom League of Ireland First Division table on Friday night, if they can end their winless run of three matches and overcome Wexford Youths at Ferrycarrig (kick-off 8pm). With leaders Shelbourne not playing in Athlone until Sunday, the Lilywhites can return to the summit with victory. However, if their current form continues, they could also fall to third after the weekend, as promotion rivals Waterford United and Sporting Fingal face-off in Santry.

Just two weeks ago, John Gill’s men were enjoying a healthy five-point advantage over their nearest rivals, however, that lead has quickly disappeared following a run of disappointing results. Their first defeat of the season at home to Shels a fortnight ago started Dundalk’s dip in form, as they were forced to be content with two scoreless draws away to Monaghan United and at home to Longford Town in the past week.

However, Gill is not panicking, and feels that if luck had been kinder to his side, they could have won both of those fixtures. “Football can be a funny game,” he told dundalkfc.com. “It can be the toss of a coin. The crossbar against Monaghan and the post against Longford - if those two went in, I think we would have won both games, and we would be all giving each other high-fives and saying how good it’s going. Football doesn’t work like that. Sometimes, you need a little bit of everything. All we can do is keep working hard and, hopefully, get a break.”

Dundalk Team News: Once again, Gill will have to alter his starting line-up, as right-back John Flanagan is ruled out with a troubling ankle injury. As a result, it will now be exactly one year (41 competitive games) since Dundalk have fielded the same team in two consecutive matches. The manager will also have to do without central midfielder Paul Shiels, who misses out through suspension after reaching four penalty points. On a positive note, striker Robbie Martin is likely to now be available from the start having fully recovered from injury.