DUNDALK boss Ian Foster will be looking to his side to hang onto their 3-1 first leg advantage to secure a place in the Setanta Sports Cup Final at Cliftonville's expense tonight.

The Lilywhites host the Irish Premier League side in the second leg tonight at Oriel Park (7.45pm) with most observers placing them as red hot favourites to reach the final.

Dundalk will continue to operate without long-term injury victims Greg Bolger (thigh strain), Stephen Maher (torn groin muscles) and Eoghan Osborne (broken leg), while Shane Guthrie (blurred vision and concussion) will also miss out. Dean Bennett (hamstring) is considered a doubt.

Ross Gaynor, Keith Ward, Daniel Kearns, Simon Madden and Peter Cherrie are all on yellow cards, meaning another caution against Cliftonville would rule them out of the final on Saturday, May 14, should the Louth club progress.

Dundalk manager Ian Foster will not be leaving the five key members of his regular side out. He told dundalkfc.com: “We’re just not in a position to rotate because of the amount of bodies we’re missing.

“There are seven players going into the game on a yellow. In fairness, Bolger and Guthrie are two of those and neither one of those boys will be involved on Monday. We still have five players going into the game on yellows, but we’re not in a position to rotate or rest. We don’t have that privilege at the moment at the football club.

"I think my players will give me an honest performance. If they get booked and they potentially miss a cup final, the fact that they’ve got us there will be the pleasing thing. We can’t leave Cherrie, Madden, Kearns, Gaynor and Ward all out. It’s an impossibility because we haven’t got the players to come in.”