Shamrock Rovers are edging closer towards a fourth league title in succession with Damien Duff's Shelbourne the visitors to Tallaght Stadium tonight.
The shock result of the season came last week when Stephen Bradley’s side were unable to breakdown UCD.
That was an unthinkable outcome against the struggling Students but Derry City’s loss in Sligo made it a positive night for the champions.
Derry will welcome College to the Ryan McBride Brandywell in what is probably their best hope of reducing the five-point lead with five matches to go.
It’s now or never for Derry with the matches dwindling away.
The Hoops have yet to beat Shels this year. The RTE cameras will be in Dublin to see if the visitors can continue their push for a remarkable third-place finish as they continue their rise of Republic of Ireland great Duff.
Derry rued refereeing decisions in Sligo and may well have had a case. Regardless they were flat on the night in The Showgrounds with the home draw with Shamrock Rovers and the disappointment that came with it possibly a factor.
Ruaidhri Higgins will be determined to at least see his side take it to the final couple of games as a UCD side now relegated head north.
Elsewhere there is a rehearsal for next week’s FAI Cup semi-final when Cork City host St Patrick’s Athletic at Turner’s Cross.
The home side look destined for the relegation play-off after the 5-0 loss to Dundalk on Monday.
A managerial change followed with Richie Holland taking over. This game will be preparation for next week’s Cup tie and the play-off which is very likely to come.
Pat’s were in the title race until last Monday when Drogheda United turned them over.
A European and FAI Cup final place would resemble a good outcome for Jon Daly who remains very much with something to prove despite their good form.
He will be keen to bounce back from that home defeat, particularly as third-place rival Shels face that tough game. It could be a night for Pat’s to make hay.
The race for Europe dominates the other games as well. Bohemians sit fifth and will feel they must win their clash in Dalymount Park against Sligo Rovers.
Having been top of the table early in the season, the league has proven more difficult in the second half of the year.
Bohs will battle it out for a place in the next FAI Cup final next week. Their minds will be putting Sligo away to try to get back inside the top four.
For the Bit O’ Red they have largely extinguished relegation fears thanks to back-to-back wins. It was the first team in a year they had successive three points and John Russell knows he has more to do to prove the doubters wrong after a difficult year.
The Louth derby also takes place this evening. After a tough time Dundalk gave their supporters a night to remember by putting five goals on the board against Cork last Monday.
Lilywhite fans were fearing the worst after the Cup exit and league defeats. However they are very much in the hunt for Europe.
Drogheda make the short visit to Oriel Park, knowing they can seal mathematical safety with a win and if Cork fail to do so. The Louth teams are just separated by just seven points, a sign of the fantastic job done by Kevin Doherty this season.
Shamrock Rovers v Shelbourne, Tallaght Stadium, 7.45pm - Live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Three wins should be enough for Shamrock Rovers to secure their four in a row. With some more favourable fixture to come it's likely victory here would go a long way.
Shelbourne's fantastic season continued with a point in Dalymount Park. If they had seen out a win there, they would have been seven points off the top going into the game, showing just much progress has been made.
Damien Duff has continually spoken about how much he wanted a win over the champions, something which has eluded them.
Tonight would be the perfect moment as they fight it out for Europe.
His counterpart Stephen Bradley was not overly critical of a draw in Belfield last week.
Bradley said: "Having watched the game back, I think a lot of the performance was really good. The one crucial part is putting the ball in the net, that we didn't do on the night. We certainly had enough chances to do that.
"But as I said, a lot of the performance was really good. Yes, we’re frustrated as we wanted three points but happy with large parts of the performance so we take the point and move on."
Bradley feels his side can break their own duck against the Drumcondra outfit with three draws so far this campaign.
"We've just got to go and perform the way we have been the last while. I think our performances have been really good, apart from little spells here and there, we’ve been really good. So we’ve got to stay there and get our performance levels. We know if we do that, nine times out of ten, it’s enough to win the game.
"We know Shelbourne will be a difficult opponent, we know they’re well-organised and they work extremely hard for each other. They have some good players in there as well so it’s going to be a difficult game. But we also know if we hit our performance levels, as I said, nine times out of ten it’ll be enough to win games."
Lee Grace, Seán Kavanagh and Johnny Kenny are all available for the Hoops. Jack Byrne remains out.
Duff has claimed there is no pressure on his players going into the game, only on the two manager and the opponents.
"I think the pressure is on Damien Duff, I think it's on Stephen Bradley, I think it’s on their players, there’s no pressure on our guys. It’s the same every single week, we go in and we encourage them to express themselves, they are relishing it, they are looking forward to it. I'm happy its live on tv, they’ve grown and they want to show their ability and their personality."
"We're a better team than the team that played there last time, I fully believe that. Look at the quality that has come in Harry Wood, Will Jarvis, Harry Fisk, Euclides Cabral, the bigger the game, the better we play, I expect a big performance.
Mark Coyle returns from suspension. Matty Smith is out for the rest of the season, Kameron Ledwidge is available however.
Derry City v UCD, Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium, 7.45pm
It's a second meeting in three weeks of Derry City and UCD.
College have not enjoyed the fixture with 14 goals conceded in the three games including five last time out.
However they can bring the confidence of a clean sheet against Shamrock Rovers into this one.
Ruaidhri Higgins has warned his side against complacency: "UCD have taken points off Bohs, Dundalk and Shelbourne among others this season as well so they've shown they're well capable.
"From our perspective we have to go into this game looking to improve on our performance from Friday night in Sligo.
"Considering our form over the last couple of months you'd have to say that was a one-off; so we need to get back playing at the levels we were at previously.
"There's plenty of football to be played between now and the end of the season but we can't concern ourselves with other fixtures, or look beyond a UCD side who will be coming here full of confidence after their latest performance."
Ronan Boyce is suspended after his red card in Sligo but Shane McEleney is back from his ban.
Mark Connolly picked up an ankle injury and is a doubt for this weekend.
Cork City v St Patrick's Athletic
The Cork City managerial trend has been Colin Healy to Richie Holland to Liam Buckley and back to Holland as the 32nd league game of the season approaches.
It's an unusual scenario and without doubt a last chance manaouver by owner Dermot Usher to stave off relegation.
He admitted that things were not working under Buckley and a change was needed.
Dan Murray has come in as Holland's assistant - a treasured figure for Cork supporters - and that could prove an inspired choice.
City need to overhaul a nine-point deficit to Sligo Rovers to avoid a play-off, with an inferior goal difference.
Holland does not want his players to give up: "For me we need to look forward now and take the challenge ahead of us because we've got some very big games for the club going forward
We have to get back to traditional values and the way Cork City fans want to see the team play. That is being competitive, aggressive and trying to win matches.
"At the moment we are in a play-off. I'm not going to deny that. It's up to us to try our best to get out of the situation we're in. People might say it's a small miracle needed or whatever. I have to install belief in the players they are good enough to compete and they have shown in parts of the season that they are."
In the other dugout Jon Daly knows the next two games against Cork could go a long way to defining their season.
A European place and an FAI Cup final is at stake.
Daly said: "It's another big game and one we are looking forward to in Cork. Our focus is fully on the league game and the three points up for grabs.
"We want to get over the disappointment of Monday night against Drogheda and keep ourselves going in the race for Europe in the league.
"It's our fourth league game against Cork and three points would keep us on track if we can get them so a win would be huge.We're fully prepared and ready to go."
Tom Grivosti (knee) is out while Sam Curtis and Jake Mulraney are suspended for this game having been sent off against Drogheda on Monday.
Bohemians v Sligo Rovers, Dalymount Park, 7.45pm
A lack of cutting edge in front of goal has been the big factor to Bohemians not winning their last three games according to manager Declan Devine and he wants to see his side hit the goal trail against Sligo Rovers tonight.
Bohs played out draws against Shelbourne and Drogheda United - and a defeat to Shamrock Rovers - which has allowed other sides to profit.
Devine said: "We've left points behind in our last two games because we have not been ruthless enough in front of goal during periods of dominance. We need to show a real cutting edge to put the ball in the back of the net when chances come our way.
Bohs have two wins already against Sligo, including one in north Dublin, but their manager has been impressed by a minor upturn in form by the visitors.
He added: "We are expecting another difficult ding-dong of a battle. I've watched Sligo’s wins against UCD and Derry City, and they were very good. They deserved to beat Derry but we have to concentrate on ourselves. We are at the business end of the season and we have to be at our very, very best in every game.
"We have to target wins in every game between now and the end of the season. There have been surprising results here, there and everywhere, even in recent weeks, so we have to take care of our own business.
"We have worked hard to put ourselves in a strong position. We cannot have any regrets at the end of this series of games."
Adam McDonnell (suspended) is Bohs' only absentee, he will not face his former side.
Sligo have been beset by injury woes throughout the year, yet find the situation improving as the season comes to a close.
John Russell has said it is making a major difference as a strong finish last week saw they overcome Derry.
Fabrice Hartmann and John Mahon have overcome injuries and will be in their squad. Will Fitzgerald could return next game.
Russell added: "We're going there with confidence after back-to-back wins which is something we wanted.
"There is still hurting there though. It’s not just a case of picking up a win or two and being happy with it.
"There is five games to go and we’re in control of what we do from now to the end of the season to get as many points as we can and as many big performances as we can.
"They’re tough games and you see in this league how hard it is to win every week. It has to be our target to keep it going.
"We have to win as many as we can and keep improving in terms of the levels we reach."
Dundalk v Drogheda United, Oriel Park, 7.45pm
Stephen O'Donnell has admitted Dundalk have lacked any real consistency this season.
However they do have one statistic in their favour.
The Lilywhites have won all three league meetings with their rival this year, meaning close to 20% of their points total has come from Drogheda.
Having had a big win over Cork on Monday, they remain in the hunt for Europe.
O'Donnell is keen to see his side put some pressure on the teams about them.
"It’s the last Louth Derby of the season and both teams are coming off the back of good wins on Monday so it has the makings of a really good game," said O’Donnell.
"The season has never really settled down and because of that, there’s a lot of teams with things still to play for and a lot of teams very condensed in the table.
"We can only focus on ourselves. We had a good result and a good performance on Monday and we’re looking to carry that into Friday"
Robbie Benson returns after serving a one-game suspension and Keith Ward is available again but Paul Doyle will be assessed after going off in the win over Cork City with a groin injury.
John Mountney (knee) and Connor Malley (quad) are doubtful while Louie Annesley and Andy Boyle are nearing a return.
