Shelbourne attacker Aiden O'Brien does not believe that his side’s FAI Cup quarter-final clash with Derry will have any bearing on the title race, regardless of who ultimately comes out on top.
Shels travel to the Brandywell on Saturday evening with a place in the semi-final of the cup up for grabs.
The quarter-final is a clash of the top two in the league race, but O’Brien feels that the result will have little bearing on the destination of the league title.
"No, it’s don't think I'm going to put any pressure on any of our teammates, anyone involved in Shels in that regard," he said when asked if there a win could held deliver a blow in the title race.
"It's another big game, you know, it's a cup game. It's a quarter-final game and we're going to take it as it is.
"The league's the league, the cup's the cup and that's the next game at hand, and it's a way to a tougher opposition in Derry.
"We know what's at hand, the gaffer gave us the heads up and, and we've been working all week on how to go and get the result there and we're looking forward to it."
O’Brien has hit the ground running at Shelbourne since joining the club last month and has already scored some crucial goals for his side, most notably the winner in a 1-0 win away to Dundalk.
The former Republic of Ireland international has credited Damien Duff with helping him make a seamless transition to the League of Ireland, and he’s hoping to repay his manager’s faith in him.
"It's been really easy, actually, just because of how the manager and the staff and the boys have taken to me, it's been quite a smooth transition," O’Brien said speaking of the move.
"It's kind of helped me on the pitch as well. You know, with scoring two goals early in my time here and it's been all credit due to the manager and the players to helping me bond with the team and in the dressing room.
"It's just made me relax, really. Instead of coming into new settings, new environments where you could really get a bit thrown off by that, but they've helped me massively, the manager and the players, in terms of keeping me, keeping me relaxed.
"He [Duff] was one hell of a player, he's a hell of a manager, and a hell of a guy. He's very loved at the club by everybody and that's due to how he is with everyone.
"He's been brilliant with me in my short period of time and you can tell everyone else at the training ground and around the club loves him."
While O'Brien's immediate focus is the cup, the league has developed into a two-horse race between Shels and Derry.
The Dublin side hold a four-point lead at the top with the two teams due to meet on the final day of the season, however a spanner could yet be thrown into the works.
Dundalk's precarious financial position could yet play a factor in the destination of the league title.
Should Dundalk drop out of the league, their results would likely be expunged and the Candystripes would then take over as leaders ahead of the current side at the summit.
That possible scenario is not one that O'Brien is losing any sleep over however.
"We can't control the uncontrollables," he said. "Right now, we, what we can do is we can control going to Derry and beating them. That's what we can do, and that what we're going to do.
"Whatever happens in the background, that's all noise and blurred sounds at the moment because we're just taking care of the job at hand and that's Derry away in the cup.
"Hopefully they can sort out what needs to be sorted out and it doesn't affect anything. But let's just let's just do one thing at a time."
Listen to the RTÉ Soccer podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch Shamrock Rovers v Sligo Rovers in the League of Ireland on Friday from 7.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
Watch Derry City v Shelbourne in the FAI Cup quarter-finals on Saturday from 5.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
