The race for European places continues on Friday night with the clash of Shamrock and Sligo Rovers headlining as RTÉ Sport's television coverage resumes after a summer break.
The Hoops look destined to relinquish their league title after a history-equalling four-in-row success and now set their sights on ensuring they will at least be playing in the Conference League in July 2025.
Stephen Bradley's side will play in the league phase of the 2024/2025 edition in the coming weeks, with four games scheduled for when the Premier Division is finished, meaning their season is far from over.
It would be unthinkable a side of their standing would miss out on the top three league positions, yet they remains a real threat.
Friday night's game is pivotal in that race. Sligo, one of the surprise sides of the season, occupy third place going into the game and know a first win in Tallaght since 2020 would put them in a strong position.
Fourth place will be good enough for Europe if the winner of the Derry City v Shelbourne quarter-final go on to lift the FAI Cup.
Five sides hold realistic hopes of finishing third so there will be plenty of twists and turns to come over the final series of games which is now well underway.
Bradley’s side have had to sit on dwell on their league defeat to rivals Bohemians for two weeks due to the international break-up.
After their European qualifying schedule, this begins an extremely hectic period of five league matches in 14 days.
Now rested and with some players recovered from injury, including leading scorer Johnny Kenny who will line out against his former club, expectations will be they can kick on.
Ahead of a period which will have a big say on whether can stay in Europe, Bradley said: "There are a lot of points to play for. We have to focus on what’s in front of us, Sligo at home this week and try and get three points.
"I felt in our last game against Bohs, and I said it afterwards, we should’ve put the game to bed early and we didn’t.
"We weren’t ruthless enough so if we get those opportunities on Friday, we must make sure that we take them. If you’re not ruthless, this league is unforgiving and it can come back and bite you, which we found out two weeks ago. A lot can change, a lot of points to play for but it’s up to us to look after our own stuff and be ruthless at both ends."
Each side have a victory so far in their battles, with a draw also in The Showgrounds, so the Hoops boss is expecting a difficult encounter.
"We know Sligo are having a good season, we know they’ll come with a gameplan to hurt us with the pace they have. We know Simon Power first-hand and his pace and what he can do so we must respect what Sligo are good at but also impose what we’re really good at. As I said, when we get our opportunities, which I’ve no doubt we will, we need to be ruthless and take them."
Lee Grace serves a one-match ban for his red card against Bohs.
Aaron Greene and Rory Gaffney remain out. Aaron McEneff misses out after being injured in training during the week but Trevor Clarke is back. There are no other injury problems.
Sligo recovered from their shock 7-0 hammering against Drogheda United by putting in one of their best displays of the season to beat Waterford.
They also had a fortnight on the sidelines waiting for their next encounter but had the consolation of being in third place thanks to their latest win.
They must contend with a big absentee for this game in captain Niall Morahan who has a one-match ban to serve.
Stefan Radosavljevic, John Mahon and Conor Reynolds miss out through injury while winger Stephen Mallon is doubtful.
The Bit O’ Red are ahead of expectations for the year given many predicted them to be in a battle to avoid the drop at this point in the year.
Manager John Russell wants his players to take advantage of their position they’ve put themselves in.
"We've continued to improve as the season has gone on and now we find ourselves at the business end of the year where everyone has something to play for. That makes for an interesting and intense finish to the season where each team is doing all they can to pick up as many points as possible, which everyone wants to see.
"Nobody has to remind us how big of a challenge it is to go to Tallaght. But the surface down there is always in top shape and that suits our style of play.
"It's vital we play to our strengths for this one and impose ourselves on the game from early on."
The match is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, the first of a number of league games to be televised in the run-in for the season.
Waterford FC will look to profit from two rivals meeting as crisis club Dundalk travel to the RSC.
The Blues have hit their biggest slump of the season with four defeats in five in the league, yet could find themselves leapfrogging Sligo again with a win here.
Dundalk have far greater problems off-the-pitch and must also find a victory to give themselves some chance of salvation this season.
Jon Daly’s side could not be faulted for their commitment in the loss to St Patrick’s Athletic last week, especially as they had not been paid before the game.
Wages have come through now, although that is a drop in the ocean in terms of the overall ssues they’re facing.
Striker Josh O'Connor will miss out after picking up an ankle injury in training on Thursday while Bobby Faulkner and Paul Doyle (hamstring) are also sidelined.
Blues goalkeeper Sam Sargeant is back in training. This game may come too soon for him.
Kyle White is also nearing a return from a hamstring injury. Niall O'Keeffe and Adam Queally are available after both overcoming recent injuries.
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
