The two games scheduled across the weekend have a bearing on matters at both ends of the table.
First up this evening is the clash of Sligo Rovers v Bohemians at the Showgrounds. A fortnight ago, the Bit O'Red, courtesy of a second-half goal from Owen Elding, won the FAI Cup clash between the sides. A deserved win for John Russell's side and they followed that up with a 2-1 victory away to Waterford. Bohs' response to that cup disappointment was a 3-0 victory at home to Cork City.
And then on 7pm on Sunday, Shamrock Rovers welcome Drogheda United to Tallaght Stadium. After again qualifying for the league phase of the Conference League (opening game on 2 October), the Hoops' focus will now revert back to maintaining their lead at the summit.
As for Drogs, the disappointment of conceding late on against St Patrick's Athletic would have hurt. The push for a top-three finish will be keenly fought and the Co Louth club, often criticised for their style of play, know that after Derry-St Pat's drew on Friday evening, three points from their trip to D24 will see them leapfrog Pat's and leave them a point shy of Derry in third.
After the international break, these sides will meet in the FAI Cup quarter-final, with holders Drogheda having home advantage for a tie that will be live on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player on Friday, 12 September.
After successive defeats to Shelbourne and St Pat's and the controversial awarding of a pair of red cards, Sligo Rovers steadied the ship with those wins at Dalymount Park and the RSC, though they still remain in ninth spot. They can jump ahead of Galway United in the table if they record a first league win this term against Bohs. Such an outcome would restore Sligo's ten-point advantage over bottom-side Cork City, who defeated Waterford FC on Friday, and bridge the gap to the Blues in seventh to two points.
Galway won't be in action this weekend after they requested a postponement of their game away to Shelbourne in order to respect the funeral arrangements of their late assistant manager Ollie Horgan, who died after a short illness.
Sligo boss Russell, not surprisingly, is looking to end the month on a high. Speaking to the club's website, he said: "We showed a lot of character and spirit to come back into games this season and no more than in Waterford. I felt we were the better team throughout and really deserved our win down there.
"It was a win over a team we're chasing and it gave us a lot of confidence and a big boost going into Saturday, which is going to be a really tough game for us. But we're looking for the players to again raise their levels. The games between ourselves and Bohs this year really have had little in them so I think you can expect more of the same come Saturday."
In their clashes so far, Bohs have won two, with a 1-1 draw the outcome in their last encounter, an evening where Elding fired in a stunning goal to put Sligo in front.
THAT IS OUT OF THIS WORLD FROM OWEN ELDING🤩
— League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) June 27, 2025
Sligo Rovers lead in Dalymount thanks to the boy wonder. pic.twitter.com/eq0r7jwgly
Russell continued: "We beat Bohs a few weeks ago and they'll be coming here looking to get one over us again, we know they will. They're still chasing Shamrock Rovers and are so dangerous from all positions. Saying that, we are at home and it is up to us to set the pace and that's what we want to do. We are aware of what a win would do for us in terms of the league table so we'll look to start well, do the basic things in a correct manner and see where that takes us."
In team news, Conor Reynolds' and Ronan Manning's fitness will be assessed. James McManus misses out due to the terms of his loan deal with Saturday's opponents. Oskar Van Hattum has this week departed the club to continue his career in Canada.
Earlier this seek, Bohemians confirmed that full-back Liam Smith has left the club by mutual consent to return to Scotland.
Smith, 29, joined Bohs from Cheltenham Town in July of last year, making 29 first-team appearances in all competitions in the time since.
A clinically taken Douglas James-Taylor (above) brace was key to Bohemians' defeat of Cork eight days ago, with manager Alan Reynolds hailing the former Drogheda United and Stoke City player as a "special talent".
He also had special praise for the collective, when saying: "The performance in the first half is the best I've seen since I’ve been here. We were absolutely outstanding. Delighted with the response, we owed that to the fans. It's a great group of players that were hurting after last week."
Three points in the Yeats County would take Bohemians to within four points of Shamrock Rovers, having played two games more.
It's 10 August since Shamrock Rovers last played a league game, that was a scoreless draw away to Galway United. Since then they've had an FAI Cup win against Longford Town and those two games against Santa Clara which has guaranteed their progression in Europe.
An achivement that boss Stephen Bradley is immensely proud of.
He told shamrockrovers.ie "The players deserve all the credit in the world. They're the ones who’ve done it and had to perform in different ways in all the different games. It’s brilliant and they deserve massive credit for going through the process the tough way, without the champions route."
And on the task of facing Drogheda, Bradley is expecting a tight encounter.
"Kevin has done a brilliant job. When the European stuff happened, that could've easily knocked and derailed their whole season, but it hasn’t. That’s all credit to Drogheda. All our games against them this season have been extremely tight. Tomorrow will be no different, we know we’ve got to be ready. Drogheda are doing really well, are very very good at what they do, and we need to be ready for that."
With Connor Malley making progress from his injury, the hosts, apart from a "usual few knocks" report a clean bill of health.
Jack Byrne has left the club to join Dubai Irish on loan until December.
Byrne has been absent from the Rovers squad in recent times as they earned qualification to the UEFA Conference League group stage and took control of the Premier Division race.
Dubai Irish play in the UAE Third Division League with their first league game, against Nova Star, pencilled in for 19 September.
Drogheda have bolstered their attacking options with the signing of Jack Stretton on a deal until the end of the season.
The 23-year-old, capped by Scotland at Under-19 level, came through the academy ranks at Derby County making his debut for the Rams in 2020. He later went on to join Stockport County and had loan spells at Carlisle United, Oldham Athletic and Woking, before joining Burton Albion in February of this year.
After what was a drab encounter at St Pat's, boss Kevin Doherty is bullish about his side's chances against the table-toppers.
"We definitely can beat them," Doherty told the Drogheda Independent.
"For me they're by far the best team in the league at the moment, but they were the best team in the league a couple of years ago when we beat them and I think there was a spell when we were unbeaten against them in six or seven games.
"We know it’s a very, very difficult ask, but we’re in a completely different place now to when we played them before and playing really, really well and we’ll be well prepared for it."
As for team news, Drogheda's main concern is striker Josh Thomas who limped out of the defeat to St Pat's with a hamstring injury.
