Laois manager Peter Creedon.
Allianz Football League Division Three
Saturday February 25
Laois v Tipperary, O'Moore Park, Portlaoise, 7pm, Live on eir Sport
A vital game is scheduled for Portlaoise on Saturday evening in a hotly contested Division Three.
Louth are the only side with maximum points, while Antrim are the only team who haven't registered.
Laois were soundly beaten by Louth, but they responded impressively eking out a victory over Armagh at the Athletic Grounds.
That was a significant result for Peter Creedon, who faces his former team this weekend.
Tipperary finished strongly to overcome Antrim, but Sligo pinched the spoils at Semple Stadium.
It will be interesting to see how the 2016 All Ireland Semi-Finalists react in this televised encounter.
LAOIS: Graham Brody; Darren Strong, Denis Booth, James Kelly; Stephen Attride, Colm Begley, Eoin Buggie; Danny Luttrell, Sean Ramsbottom; Daniel O'Reilly, David Conway, Niall Donoher; John O'Loughlin, Donie Kingston, Paul Kingston.
TIPPERARY: Evan Comerford; Alan Campbell, Paddy Codd, Willie Connors; Kevin Fahey, Robbie Kiely, Jimmy Feehan; Alan Moloney, Martin Dunne; Josh Keane, Liam McGrath, Brian Fox; Conor Sweeney, Michael Quinlivan, Philip Austin.
Sunday February 26
Antrim v Sligo, Corrigan Park, Belfast, 2pm
Antrim were unfortunate to lose following a Tipperary burst on the opening weekend, but they were disappointed with the showing against Offaly.
Sligo boss Niall Carew is encouraged with the form of the Yeats County, who have also been boosted by the return of David Kelly and Pat Hughes to training.
St Vincent's Brendan Egan missed the first two matches of the competition and he is available again for Sligo.
Paddy O'Connor and Adrian McIntyre have impressed for Sligo, while the accurate Niall Murphy continues to be a key performer.
SLIGO: Aidan Devaney; Ross Donovan, Kevin McDonnell, Noel Gaughan; Eoin McHugh, Neil Ewing, Gerard O'Kelly-Lynch; Patrick O'Connor, Adrian McIntyre; Criostoir Davey, Mark Breheny, John Kelly; Kyle Cawley, Adrian Marren, Niall Murphy.
Offaly manager Pat Flanagan.
Longford v Armagh, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2pm
Caught out by a late Laois rally, Armagh will want to earn their first win of the competition. Longford, though, will be fairly content with their two displays so far.
Dennis Connerton's charges beat Offaly and were highly competitive against an in form Louth.
Armagh, who led Laois by five points at one stage, were left reflecting on gilt edged scoring chances.
"We should've had the game won at half-time, the amount of chances we missed," manager Kieran McGeeney stated.
"Not to be able to finish the game out when it was there for us is more than disappointing."
The Orchard County will be striving to leave Pearse Park on Sunday armed with the full complement of spoils to relaunch their promotion bid.
ARMAGH: Matthew McNiece; Mark Shields, Charlie Vernon, Paul Hughes; Brendan Donaghy, Niall Rowland, Aaron McKay; Stephen Sheridan, Ben Crealey; Rory Grugan, Oisin O'Neill, Niall Grimley; Anthony Duffy, Stefan Campbell, Oisin MacIomhair.
Offaly v Louth, O'Connor Park, 2pm
Louth's journey through to the Bord Na Mona O'Byrne Cup decider has been followed with a couple of enterprising League wins.
Colin Kelly is satisfied with how much Louth have developed during the past 18 months, but he will want to maintain the impressive start to the year.
Derek Maguire and Andy McDonnell have contributed well for Louth, but Offaly are a capable outfit when in the mood.
The Longford loss was a blow, but Offaly proved to be too strong for Antrim and Pat Flanagan will be aware of the positive implications another positive result would bring.
