Bohemians will come under the microscope as the short visit to Tolka Park to face Shelbourne will show if they are ready to start rising up the Premier Division table.
This week's fixtures will mark the end of the first round of matches with 25% of the campaign in the books at the end of the weekend.
The Gyspies do not have a lot to show for the efforts so far.
Victories over Shamrock Rovers, Waterford and Sligo Rovers have been recorded between five defeats.
It was unconvincing against Sligo last week, yet the most important factor was coming away with the points to end the long run without a league win at Dalymount Park.
Shels demonstrated their mettle to take four points out of Inchicore and Sligo in the last two weeks while down bodies and this will likely be a considerably harder test for Bohs.
Alan Reynolds will be without three of last week's defence, with Jordan Flores, Seán Grehan and Alex Lacey joining Kian Best on the sidelines.
Connor Parsons and Rob Cornwall return, however. Lys Mousset (Achilles) is a doubt.
Reynolds said: "Shelbourne are a very good side. They’re disciplined and organised, and are champions for a reason. But we have shown in patches how we have players who can hurt teams and the challenge for us now is to bring that into a Dublin derby against a side as well established as Shels are.
"Having Connor Parsons back is a great boost to the squad. He gives us an extra dimension in attack and has the pace and skill to run at defenders and bring others into attacking positions, so we are delighted to have him back."
A game which could be seen as the clash of the missing strikers will take place in Turner's Cross as Cork City and St Patrick's Athletic plot where their goals will come from in the coming months.

Ruairi Keating was ruled out for the season following a ruptured Achilles sustained during last Friday's defeat to Derry City.
Aidan Keena is reported to be out until June or July in a big blow for the Saints.
But while Pat's have future Tottenham Hotspur player Mason Melia, as well as the likes of Conor Carty and the now fit Kian Leavy, it's not as smooth sailing for Cork.
Young forward Harvey Skieters (20) and David Dunne (16) are likely to deputise in ther interim while Sean Maguire returns to fitness from a hamstring problem.
In terms of results, things have gone a bit south for Cork as well.
Now on a winless run of five, the lack of striking options will only make it more difficult.
The Saints were held 0-0 by the champions last week.
Drogheda United will look to continue their magnificent first quarter of the year when they visit the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium to take on Derry City.

United have been a thorn in the side of nearly every opponent so far, with just a single defeat.
In terms of budgets, it would have been expected it would be Derry riding high and Drogheda in the bottom half.
But Kevin Doherty's men have shown the benefit of building over the years, culminating in their FAI Cup success over the Candystripes.
City will be keen to extract some revenge in this fixture.
The form guide shows this could be a tough night for Waterford away to Shamrock Rovers, yet this year's Premier Division shows that should be no indication of what could happen.

It was just under a year ago when the Blues scored three times in Tallaght Stadium .
The result formed part of the difficult summer period for the Hoops and also helped Keith Long's side comfortably secure their spot in the division this year.
There was also the final night of the year where Waterford kept the Hoops honest in the title race.
Bradley wants to right the wrongs of their displays against Long's men: "That game Waterford won, they were very good, and we weren't so good. So again, you have to know, against anyone in this league, if you’re not at your levels, you’ll get beaten. We know that and we’re experienced enough to know that.
"We’ll give Waterford the respect they deserve, we’ll be ready to go tomorrow night. We know it will be a tough game and with Padraig Amond, domestically last season, he was the best we played against, and he caused everyone problems, us as well. So if you’re not at it, Amond will punish you."
Seán Kavanagh was injured in training this week so misses out.
Seán Robertson also picked up a knock while playing with the U20s.
Danny Mandroiu is available again Ed McGinty has served his one-match suspension. It remains to be seen if the former Sligo goalkeeper is restored to the starting line-up or if Leon Pohls keeps the spot after a clean sheet in Eamonn Deacy Park.
Mandroiu's return is a massive help for the home side.
The look of the squad has raised the confidence of Bradley.
"It's really pleasing that we have the vast majority of the group available. It makes such a difference to this time last year. It shows, in terms of your team and the substitutions you can make, and it obviously makes you stronger. When make those changes, it doesn’t weaken you in any way and that’s really important.
"I thought that was the case in Galway. We know as a group we need everybody; everyone needs to contribute if you’re going to be successful and win games. Everyone will play their part at some point, whether it’s starting or coming from the bench. You have to be ready and last Friday they were. And we’ll need that from now until the end of the season."
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