Sligo Rovers will travel to Limerick on Saturday for the second meeting of the teams in this year’s SSE Airtricity Premier Division.
The Bit o’ Red and Super Blues are seperated by just two points going into the game, with Tommy Barrett’s side’s 1-0 win in The Showgrounds on the opening day of the season the difference.
In team news, Rovers are without Lewis Morrison due to an ankle problem. Assistant manager Kevin Deery will serve the first of a three-game touchline ban.
Gerard Lyttle said: “Last week we let our fans and a lot of people close to the club down. I’m the first to admit that and the responsibility that comes with it. It wasn’t good enough and completely unacceptable.
“We have tried to be positive this week and it has been. The players have been working hard, they’ve trained well. As i’ve said throughout I believe in them, their ability and I stand by it.
“We have to add to the mental side of it and I know we’re a lot better than what we’ve shown. There is not much between the teams in the league and I think it’ll be a tight game.
“The pitch hasn’t been great apparently but it’s the same for both teams and we’ll not use it as an excuse – we have had enough of them – we have to go out and do enough to win the game and I believe we can do that.”
Lyttle said of being without Deery on the bench: “It’s frustrating but there is nothing we can do about it now and we have to move on.
“Kevin got three games when another manager was given one game for what looked to be a more serious offence. It shows a lack of consistency.
“But again, that should not be a distraction to us. Our focus is on the game and whatever circumstances around should not matter. It’s about our performance and the result and that’s the message going down there.”
