Dundalk FC head south to take on Cobh

Dundalk FC take on Cobh Ramblers tonight in the final game of the SSE Airtricity League Men’s First Division season, with the league title secured and promotion guaranteed. Kick off at St. Colman's Park, Cobh at 7.45pm.

Ciarán Kilduff’s side sealed their return to the Premier Division last week with a convincing 3-0 victory over Finn Harps at Oriel Park, while Longford Town’s win over Cobh confirmed the Lilywhites as champions.

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Cobh will be eager to sign off in front of their home crowd with a strong display against the champions. Their recent form has been mixed, with a 3-1 loss at Longford Town followed by back-to-back home wins over Bray Wanderers and Finn Harps.

Dundalk, meanwhile, have been steady, unbeaten in their last three. The sides have met three times this season, with Dundalk winning twice and drawing once, including a 1-0 victory at Oriel Park back in June.

In team news, captain Daryl Horgan and defender Mayowa Animasahun are carrying knocks and will be assessed. Seán Spaight, Eoin Kenny, Vinnie Leonard and TJ Molloy are back from international duty and will also be assessed.

Kilduff expects a tough challenge but wants his players to end the campaign in style. He told the club website: “This is obviously our first game as league champions, and we want to make a good account of ourselves.

“We know what we achieved last weekend, but there's still football left to be played this year and every time we take to the pitch in the Dundalk jerseys, we have a responsibility to perform and play well.

“Our support have been amazing all year, and I think we owe that to hold our standards of professionalism as high as we can.

“Playing the team who will finish second, who've chased us all year, and they're a really good team with some really good players and are well coached and managed, so it'll be a really tough game, but we'll be looking after ourselves.

“It'll be an opportunity for our players, maybe to get minutes who need them and deserve them, so we're looking for a good performance.

“We should be fresh; we should be eager and ready to play, and hopefully we can go down to Cobh and finish the season on a high.

“We know what we've achieved this season has been amazing and we're very proud, but we'll be looking for three more points to add to our tally and to finish on a proper high.”