Shamrock Rovers v St Patrick's Athletic (Tonight, Tolka Park 8pm):A full week after watching his side beat UCD 2-0, Shamrock Rovers manager Pat Scully is still preoccupied with what he deemed a "very poor" performance.
He has since spent time addressing areas he feels could be exposed by St Patrick's Athletic tonight.
Rovers sit third in the table, just two points behind John McDonnell's side who, having been distracted by Europe last week, revert attention back to a domestic campaign they'll be keen to regain a hold on.
Their early season swagger has waned and they boast just four league wins from their last 10 outings. Still, at their best they have the arsenal to provide Rovers with their sternest league test in recent weeks.
Scully's side are eight league games unbeaten but the bulk of those contests were against the bottom five teams. Bookmakers, though, note that wins over Drogheda and Cork were also among that run and make the hosts marginal favourites for this televised game.
"We grinded out that UCD result so we need a real performance tonight," said Scully. "St Pat's invested heavily at the start of the season. They've now gone to England in the transfer window and hand picked exactly who they wanted and as a result have a very, very good team.
"But once we play to our potential I still feel my players are better. We're in a challenging position and we need to deliver so it's huge motivation for us to win and move second."
With just seven points separating first and fourth, the season is shaping to be a cliff-hanger, a fact not lost on McDonnell.
"Ourselves and Rovers have emerged from the pack and it's great the league is so tight. It keeps everyone on their toes. But someone has to lose out in the end, it's that tight. Someone will win the league by a point, someone will miss out on Europe by a point. It's close and that's a great thing."
Rovers are still without long-term injury victims Paul Shiels and Aidan Price, while Stephen O'Brien is a week off returning. David Cassidy returns from suspension. Joseph Ndo, Colm Foley and Gary O'Neill are still sidelined with knee injuries and play no part for St Patrick's.
