With the championship looking to be even more of a two-horse race after the Christmas and new year programmes some of the clubs in the chasing pack will have added reason to feel a little edgy as they head into this weekend's first round cup games.

At the time that the draw was made Bohemians looked to be one of the big losers. Struggling badly in the league, they were handed a tricky looking trip to Waterford where defeat would mean that the remaining five months of the season would be filled with nothing other than a desperate scrap to avoid the humiliation of relegation.

Since then things have improved for Roddy Collins's side. On Sunday in Oriel Park they comfortably outplayed fellow strugglers Dundalk and in reality won the game much more easily than the 1-0 scoreline would suggest.

With Bray, Waterford, Sligo and, of course, Dundalk picking up just one point between them on the day, the victory was enough to lift them four places in the table and afterwards the obvious confidence in the dressing-room suggested that, far from heading to the Regional Sports Centre fearing the worst, the Dubliners might yet salvage some respectability from a season that started so ignominiously.

Shelbourne, on the other hand, need to salvage a little more than respectability this weekend but, unlike Bohemians, they've done little since the draw was made in early December to inspire much confidence about their first-round clash with tenants Shamrock Rovers.

True, the form of last year's championship runners-up has improved of late with wins against Bray, Sligo and Derry helping them into a position from which they can seriously challenge Rovers and Finn Harps for third place over the weeks ahead.

And before the improvement there were many misfortunes for Dermot Keely to point to when asked to explain his side's erratic form over the opening months of the season. James Keddy's injury, Stephen Geoghegan's injury and then lack of form and Liam Kelly's prolonged absence have all hindered the new boss since he arrived at Tolka Park during the summer.

Still, some of Shelbourne's problems have been of their own making. The tendency to concede soft goals was identified a couple of months back by Keely himself as their greatest weakness while their dismal disciplinary record has led to a string of key players being suspended over the first half of the season.

When Keely took over he scoffed at the suggestion that he would make major changes to the squad and while there has not been too dramatic an overhaul in terms of numbers, there is little enough evidence that the signings he has made since arriving have done a great deal to improve the strength of his panel.

James Keddy is the most notable exception, though he scarcely had the chance to prove his worth before picking up an injury which will probably keep him out for the rest of the season. His absence left Keely with a distinct problem on the left side of midfield which he has struggled with since. Tony Sheridan was packed off back out there but was sorely missed up front, Neil Trebble made a brief appearance there and Mark Rutherford returned to the club only to leave again a couple of weeks later. Now, more promisingly, Richie Baker is getting his chance to impress.

So, ironically, the man who was brought in because Damien Richardson couldn't seem to crack the league must look to the competition in which his predecessor enjoyed remarkable success to achieve something significant this season.

Under Richardson, of course, Shelbourne had dominated this competition for the last few years and there were quite a few people who felt that that success, notwithstanding the loss to Cork in last year's final, should have been enough to keep him in his job.

Even if this Friday night's game does go badly for Shelbourne it seems reasonable to expect that Keely will be given more time to get things right at the club. Having already taken a bit of flak from the fans when they felt that he had supped a little too often at Home Farm/Everton's fountain of youth over the first half of the season, the Dubliner will know that another setback will not do much for his popularity.

And like him, his opposite number, Mick Byrne, will be fearful that a cup exit could mark the passing of his side's last opportunity to take something solid (and silvery) out of the season.

For either club, defeat would be a blow. But for Shelbourne just now it would represent one more reason to reflect more favourably on last season's succession of near misses.