Today

Finn Harps V St Patrick's Ath Ballybofey, 7.15

St Patrick's manager Pat Dolan has had his month-long suspension reduced to two matches. Dolan, sent off in the recent defeat by Shelbourne, was to start a ban this week lasting until January 20th. That has been effectively halved on appeal, meaning he must watch just tonight's game at Finn Park and the Bohemians game next week from the stand to complete the ban.

With their Leinster Senior Cup tie being postponed during the week, midfielder Robbie Griffin remains suspended so Dolan must reshuffle in the middle of the park after last week's defeat by Shamrock Rovers.

Harps should be unchanged despite the disappointment of losing the north-west derby to Derry City last week.

"We need to make home advantage count as we've not picked up too many points on our travels," said manager Gavin Dykes. "We've played St Pat's twice this season and lost 2-1 on each occasion. But they were very close games with little between the teams."

Last two seasons: 1999/2000 - St Patrick's Ath 2 Finn Harps 1, Finn Harps 1 St Patrick's Ath 1, St Patrick's Ath 1 Finn Harps 0; 2000/2001 - St Patrick's Ath 2 Finn Harps 1.

Current league form: Finn Harps - D L D D L; St Patrick's Ath - W L W W L.

Leading league scorers: Finn Harps - Nesovic 6; St Patrick's Ath - L Kelly 6.

Referee: D Hancock (Dublin).

Betting: Home: 3/1; draw: 9/4; away: 4/5.

Kilkenny City V Bray Wanderers Buckley Park, 7.30

Staying focused is perhaps Bray's biggest difficulty after what manager Pat Devlin has described as "a hectic but great week." Permission to further develop the railway side of the Carlisle Grounds was granted last week, Bohemians were duly sent packing on Sunday while Bray were finally awarded a sum in the region of u25,000 £25,000 in compensation from the FAI following arbitration for last season's FAI Cup semi-final row.

Kieran O'Brien and Dave Campbell miss the trip to Buckley Park because of suspension while Eddie Gormley and Mick Doohan are slight doubts due to calf strains.

Former youth international Stephen Murphy is set for his Kilkenny debut following his move from Glenavon this week and should be the only change to a side looking to end a run of nine successive defeats.

Last two seasons: 1999/2000 (First Division) - Bray 2 Kilkenny 1, Kilkenny 5 Bray 1, Bray 1 Kilkenny 0, Kilkenny 1 Bray 0. 2000/2001 - Bray 3 Kilkenny 0.

Current league form: Kilkenny - L L L L L; Bray - D W D D W.

Leading league scorers: Kilkenny City - Byrne, Carter, Kabia, McGrath, Mulcahy, Murray, Parkes 1 each; Bray Wanderers - Tresson 7.

Referee: A O'Regan (Cork).

Betting: Home: 4/1; draw: 5/2; away: 4/7.

Betting courtesy of Paddy Power.