LOI preview: Derry City battling to stay in title race

Sligo Rovers have played an unusual role in the twists and turns of this season's SSE Airtricity League Premier Division title race.

They appeared to end any hopes Dundalk had of putting serious pressure on Shamrock Rovers when they defeated the Lilywhites 2-0 at the end of August.

However last week the FAI concluded that the Bit O'Red fielded an illegible player in the fixture, and the result was overturned.

Dundalk then blew their second chance when they slipped to a shock 3-2 loss to UCD last Friday, and so it's now up to Derry to prevent Shamrock Rovers from easing to a third title on the bounce.

Can Sligo throw another spanner in the works?

They head to the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on Tuesday evening (KO 7.45pm) after the original fixture was postponed because of Sligo's involvement in Europe.

The Candystripes are targeting a fourth win on the bounce and are unbeaten in their last 11 league games, while Sligo ended a tough week with a good 2-0 win at Shelbourne on Friday.

"There is a lot of football still to be played and plenty can happen between now and the end of the season, so we're just concentrating on ourselves and each game as it comes," said a cautious Ruaidhri Higgins.

"Sligo are coming here on the back of successive league wins themselves and in Adrian Keena have the league's current top goalscorer, so we're well aware we will need to be at our best."

Higgins was satisfied with Friday night's win over Bohemians that lifted his side back into second place in the table.

"It was a difficult game in different ways, but the players gave everything," he said.

"Michael Duffy's sensational goal gave us a thoroughly deserved win. Our supporters were absolutely brilliant too and the Brandywell was rocking. The