Shelbourne captain Mark Coyle is gearing up for the biggest game of the season so far as his side prepare to make the short trip to Richmond Park to take on St Patrick's Athletic on Friday.
The defending champions take on the league leaders for the first meeting of the sides this season and already there’s a big event feeling about the encounter.
With the Saints leading the way, the sides are part of a group of four that are separated by just a point and a win for either of them would be a statement result.
Shels got the better of St Pat’s last season, taking nine points from a possible 12 but their sole defeat came after Stephen Kenny took charge and under the former Ireland manager, the Saints look to be genuine title contenders.
"It's a huge game. Anytime you play St Pat's, it's always a huge game," said Coyle.
"We've had a good rivalry over the, the past, last couple of years, and it’s always been a good game.
"It's probably the biggest game so far this season, but it's such a long way to go that there'll be more games that are bigger come to crunch time. But yeah it's probably the biggest game so far this year."
St Pat’s lead the league by a point, picking up where they finished off last season under Kenny, who in his short time in charge at Richmond Park, has transformed them into a side to be reckoned with.
A win for Shels would see them move two points clear of their Dublin rival and would be a big statement of intent in terms of the league race as well as derby bragging rights, but Coyle is only focused on the result.
"As long as we can get the three points, that's all that matters," he said.
"Pats are obviously a top side, it's a Dublin derby, it's a game you want to be involved in. The most important thing is that we try to get our put in aa good performance and get the three points.
"There's a lot of quality in their group. They've got a lot of top players and obviously a manager who's been there and done it numerous times, in Stephen Kenny. They're the proper challengers as are we.
"But it’s important to look at yourselves. That's what we did last year, and that's what you have to do. We have to focus on what we're doing week in, week out and, and whatever happens come the end of the year will happen."
While Shels come into the game off the back of a win, they've yet to hit top form this season.
They edged to an unconvincing 2-1 victory against bottom side Sligo Rovers last time out, a result that was their first win in five games.
Shels have generally been enjoying more possession this season, with some individual errors in defence and attack costing them, but Coyle believes that they are close to erasing those mistakes and he feels they're ready to kick on.
" When I look at the games we've played and how we've played, I would say the majority of the games where we didn't get a result was probably from our own mistakes," he said.
"That's where we haven't been as performing as well as we did last year. We were very good in that aspect last year.
"But in terms of being on the ball, we're dominating teams. On Friday night against Sligo was probably the worst on the ball we played, but we won. It was just through pure hard work and working hard for each other.
"If we get a mixture of the two right, I think we'll be a real force. I think on the ball and just how we've been dominating teams, it’s probably been the best since I've been at Shels."
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