Shamrock Rovers will aim to extend their lead at the top of the SSE Airtricity League table when they welcome Finn Harps to Tallaght Stadium on Sunday evening. (7pm kick-off)
Dundalk failed in their task to go level with the Hoops on Friday night after they fell to a 3-2 defeat to UCD at the UCD Bowl, while Derry's 1-0 victory over Bohemians saw them close the gap to a single point.
Now, Stephen Bradley's side have the chance to extend their one-point advantage to four, despite playing two fewer games than the Lilywhites.
Finn Harps meanwhile will be looking to climb off the foot of the table after the Students' win put them one point ahead of Harps.
Rovers drew their midweek UEFA Europa Conference League tie with Djurgardens nil-all but will be hoping to bounce back on the domestic front with a win after losing to Bohemians in their last league outing.
"It's a really big games for both clubs. We’ve got to make sure that we’re at our levels that we were on Thursday if we want to go and take maximum points," said Bradley.
"Finn Harps will have the attacking strength that they always bring to any ground. We know Ollie (Horgan) will have them really organised.
"They're extremely honest, hard-working players and once you have that you have a chance in any game. So we’ve got to respect that and the fact that they have some quality players, like (Eric) McWoods and (Barry) McNamee, and we have to be ready for that."
Harps suffered a 2-1 defeat last time out away to St Patrick's Athletic and had Liam McGing sent off late on.
"We played well at times last week and feel we could have taken something from the game," said Harps boss Horgan.
"A couple of minutes of madness saw us concede two goals and it was always going to be an uphill battle from there, but in fairness to the lads they got us back into the game and kept fighting to the final whistle but it wasn't to be."
David Webster will definitely miss out as he nurses a long-term injury whilst Rob Slevin, Regan Donelon, Elie-Gael N'Zeyi and Mark Timlin are all doubtful.
Dylan Watts is out for the Hoops as he is suspended while Sean Hoare looks set to miss out after coming off early with an injury sustained against Djurgardens.
The game looks to have come too early for the recovering Richie Towell while Roberto Lopes returned to training last week after a long injury lay-off.
Jack Byrne appeared off the bench for a cameo during the week as he looks to build his match fitness after a summer interrupted by injury, but it was teenager Justin Ferizaj who got the nod in Europe.
Rotation will have to be a factor in Bradley's team selection as the Rovers' fixture pile-up continues.
"It's something we’ve done the last couple of years, we’ve changed the team when we’ve had a really busy period. This period will be no different and that’ll be the case between now and the end of the season," added Bradley.
"It’s about attacking the game in front of you and trying to win it but also looking at the schedule ahead of you and believing that every player in the squad is ready to play.
"No one that does start makes us weaker so that gives you really good options as a manager. So we’ll see the squad utilised with this fixture list we have coming up."
The Tallaght side earned €166,000 for their draw in Europe, which is more than they would earn for winning the league title.
Horgan is fully aware of the gap between the two clubs heading into Sunday's game. "There is no point pretending we're not seriously up against it now on Sunday," he said.
"Rovers are a serious side, they’re competing in the group stages of Europe and they’ll want to maintain their lead at the top of the table having lost to Bohs last week.
"We’ve improved in the last couple of games but we need to be at our absolute best to have any chance, and even that might not be enough. We’ll take a cut off it anyway and see where we end up."
The Hoops have won all three meetings between the sides so far this season.
