Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic will raise the curtain ahead of the new League of Ireland season as the two big winners of 2023 clash in the President's Cup final at Tallaght Stadium.
If ever there was a sign of growth in the league then this is it. The attendance tonight will top 8,500 and will set a new record for the fixture.
The Saints competed in the 2014 edition against Sligo Rovers when just 1,330 fans were present to witness a Keith Fahey goal that won it for Pat's.
A record 2,300 fans are set to make the journey from Inchicore, with the whole East Stand sold out, making this the biggest ever Saints crowd to attend an away game at Tallaght Stadium and double their home support from a decade ago.
Both managers will be thankful for a game with something riding on it ahead of the Premier Division opener, giving them an advantage on rivals going into next Friday.
The Hoops have made minor changes to their squad with Darragh Burns the standout addition and he could face his former club tonight.
Richie Towell and the returning Aaron McEneff are unavailable while Johnny Kenny is on the comeback trail from injury, but hopefully they won't be too long.
Towell and Kenny could feature next week with McEneff also likely to come into contention this month.
Stephen Bradley will use the game to make final preparations to face Dundalk next week.
He said: "Our substitutions will be already made in our head and we hope injuries and the game will allow us to do that. It's an important game, there’s something on the line, we’re playing against a good St Pat's side and we want to win the game.
"But we’ve always used it as a pre-season game, in terms of getting players ready for the Dundalk game next week. That will continue to be the case against St Pat’s.
"But we’ll try to win the game and our substitutions, I think we’re allowed six, will be already planned and hopefully can happen.
"We're really happy with the group. They’ve worked extremely hard, we’re really happy with the players we’ve brought in and the players returning to the club. We had to be patient as when they are loans it becomes a complex deal.
"You have to deal with the other club and all that entails, so we had to be very patient. But everyone we identified last year, we got, so we’re really happy with the group and looking forward to getting going."
Pat's have had to do a lot more work on their squad. Nine new players have arrived to make up for the loss of the likes of Sam Curtis cross-channel, Mark Doyle to America and some planned changed of their own.
Ruairi Keating [above], Cian Kavanagh, Brandon Kavanagh and Liverpool loanee goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga are just some of the new additions.
They are riding the crest of a wave after the FAI Cup win last November and boss Jon Daly is feeling positive making the short trip to Tallaght.
"We're looking forward to the game, it will be a good test for both sides heading into the beginning of the league next week.
"Our supporters have been fantastic and we're excited about playing in front of them again tomorrow night before going to Galway.
"Ourselves and Rovers have had really good games over the last couple of years, it's the league winners against the cup winners with lots of quality players on both sides, so it's great to have a competitive game like this so close to the new season."
Tom Grivosti [knee] will miss the match as he continues his rehab from an operation over the off season. Kick-off is 8pm.
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