Preview: LOI trio aim for progress in Conference League

Three Premier Division sides are aiming to qualify for the second round of the Europa Conference League tonight.

St Patrick's Athletic face the biggest challenge, trailing by a goal after a flat display in Luxembourg against Diddeleng.

Dundalk and Derry City recorded scoreless draws in Gibraltar and Faroe Islands.

St Patrick's Athletic (1) v FC Diddeleng 91 (2), Richmond Park, 7.45pm

Jon Daly feels St Pat’s are better equipped to tackle FC Diddeleng after having limited knowledge of their opponent going into the first leg.

With a new manager and changes to the squad, Diddeleng were something of an unknown proposition given they had not played a competitive game under their new manager.

Pat's were far from their best on the night and in truth could have been three or four goals down.

Mark Doyle scored a fortuitous goal in the dying seconds which saw the home players fall to the ground in devastation, knowing they went from having the tie largely under control to a totally different scenario going to Dublin 8.

Manager Jon Daly said: "It's a massive goal for us. We were obviously a bit disappointed with the performance but the result, being a goal down at half-time coming to our own venue isn't the end of the world. We do believe we can score goals. We'll put that performance to bed and make sure we're focused. We know what they're like now. We know what they're about."

Pat’s are restricted by the lack of seating in their home venue.

A record average of over 4,000 this season has been a remarkable story for the growth in interest in League of Ireland football in Dublin.

But tonight’s game will see just 2,500 present due to UEFA regulations.

"We're excited, looking forward to it. We're sure it's going to be a difficult game but we're