AFTER SATURDAY’S loss to Drogheda, their second cup defeat in eight days, Shamrock Rovers turn their attention back to the league this evening in Inchicore where they will be hoping to revive their prospects of qualifying for the Europa League next year.

“One hundred per cent, we have to get European football,” says midfielder Ronan Finn who, like Ciarán Kilduff, faces a fitness test before the game after taking a couple of knocks at the weekend.

“We just have to get that. It would just be a disaster otherwise. The season is petering out, unfortunately, but we have to make sure we get into Europe.”

Brian Laws reckons his team is terribly low on confidence, but Finn is at something of a loss to explain how it could have evaporated quite so quickly. “We were winning up to only two weeks ago, but the last couple of weeks have been very poor and I’m not too sure why. Like in the second half of the Shels game a couple of weeks ago, we threw it away.

“Up to that point, I thought that we had done well and had gone so many games unbeaten. But the last couple of weeks have just been poor and there is no denying it – it is clear for everyone to see.

“We’ve just got to pick ourselves up now because it is a big game against St Pat’s. They are going to be well up for it and if we don’t raise our standard we are going to get turned over again.”

St Pat’s will be without the suspended Chris Forrester. The visitors are without Conor Powell, Stephen Rice and Pat Sullivan (all suspended) and injured duo Graham Gartland and Conor Winn, while Liam Buckley must check on the fitness of John Russell (ankle), Hernany Macedo (knee) and Stephen O’Flynn (illness).