FAI CUP/Third Round: If the league's new format and the domination of the Premier Division by clubs from the capital is viewed by many as a recipe for burn-out among the domestic game's support base in Dublin there is certainly no hint of impending fatigue so far among the players.

Every week, it seems, brings at least one more Dublin derby but as he sits back and contemplates another meeting this evening between the city's two fiercest rivals at the moment, St Patrick's Athletic and Shelbourne, the St Patrick's goalkeeper Seamus Kelly is finding it hard to spot the downside.

The feud between the two clubs' administrators has at times during the past few seasons resembled one of those comedy affairs between families in the American Deep South who come down off their respective hills every now and again to take pot shots at each other.

Almost without exception, though, the players at both clubs have distanced themselves from the various disputes, even last season when the destination of the championship title ended up being decided amid much acrimony by a series of hearings and tribunals.

"None of that ever affected us," says Kelly who insists that the players at Richmond Park remained determined to quietly prove themselves on the pitch throughout the season-long controversy. "What it did do was ensure that as soon as the season was over we were all desperate for it to start again because we felt that after the way we had finished we wanted to keep it up.

"Putting aside the fact that we lost the points, last year was a very good season for us and we believe we have the potential to do better this time. It's the third year that this group of players, with a few changes, has been together and I think the level of understanding between us has improved in each campaign. There's other good teams in the league so I'm not saying we're confident we can win the title but we do believe in ourselves and so far we've started well."

Kelly, who started his league career at UCD and had a spell at Cardiff City before moving to Inchicore, is one of 15 or so full-time professionals at St Patrick's although having completed a masters in business administration in his first season back in Ireland he does a bit of lecturing in a couple of the big Dublin colleges.

"I'll have to see how it works out when the colleges start back but the priority is the football, it has to be given the demands that are placed on players at the bigger clubs now. It's very different to when I was in Belfield nearly 10 years ago.

"At that stage there were probably only five or 10 full professional players in the whole league, now there are probably five clubs based on a squad of full-time players. It's changed completely, everything has really and the switch to summer soccer, even though it's still very much in its early stages, seems to be a great step forward too."

A lot of players, he admits, were cautious about the shift in season but improved attendances and better conditions during training sessions have won many over during the past few weeks. It still takes a bit of getting used to, though.

"Normally we'd only have been coming back when the league started this year and so to find ourselves already playing Shelbourne for a place in the quarter-finals of the cup seems really strange.

"But it's what you want, to be involved in big games as often as possible. And the fact that it's the cup and they'll be trying to get back at us after last week all adds to the sense of occasion. That's what I find about the new format, that more of the games are big games with a real sense of the outcome being important. I mean every league game is worth three points, so they're all important and some of the country teams are very big but I don't think any of us get tired of playing in games where there's a bit of an edge and you always get that in the sort of games we've had in the last couple of weeks, against Shelbourne and (Shamrock) Rovers."

There's sure to be that sort of edge again this evening when Pat Fenlon's Shelbourne players will be hoping their greater FAI Cup pedigree in recent seasons will help them to succeed where they fell down last weekend.

"They've done very well in the competition and they've got a lot of really good players, lads who can score from set-pieces, so we'll have to work hard at it for the whole 90 minutes. But we haven't won this for a long time (41 years) and I think that'll count for something too because we badly we want to win it, we all want to break the run and this could be the year."