Shamrock Rovers v St Patrick's Athletic

Both of these clubs brought in a lot of new players over the summer but, asked which of the two would be topping the table after eight games most people would surely have opted for the Saints, whose high-profile purchases seemed more likely to produce the goods from the start.

Pat Dolan, however, maintains that he expected Rovers to do well with the Richmond Park boss remarking that "they bought well over the summer, addressed the problems that they seemed to have last season and anytime I've seen them so far this season I've been very impressed."

Mick Byrne is, predictably, happy with his side's position in the table but actually feels that they have yet to produce their best. "A few players have been consistently very good for us but we've yet to see a game where the whole team plays well.

"If we could get to the stage where eight or nine players were performing for us on a regular basis, then we could really be in contention for something at the end of the season and if we started to see that against Patrick's then I'd be very happy indeed."

Rovers, after a win in Drogheda which even Byrne concedes was aided by a suspect offside decision which ruled out a Rod de Khors goal, will be unchanged but the visitors have a number of worries and their line-up will not be confirmed until shortly before the game.

Goalkeeper Trevor Wood has a thigh strain, Ian Gilzean a hamstring problem, Paul Osam a twisted ankle and Martin Reilly a head injury but all have made progress over the past couple of days and all may just make it.

Last season: St Patrick's 0 Rovers 0, Rovers 0 St Patrick's 1, St Patrick's 2 Rovers 2.

Recent league form: Rovers: WLWWW, St Patrick's: LWDWD.

Leading scorers: Rovers: Cousins (eight), St Patrick's: Gilzean and Molloy (three apiece).

Betting: Home: 2/1, Draw: 7/4, Away: 6/4.

Referee: R O'Hanlon (Waterford).

First Division

Waterford will be hoping to extend their lead at the top of the first division when St Francis visit this evening and manager Tommy Lynch is unlikely to mess around with a team that has won six and drawn one of their last seven outings.

"A few more goals would be nice," says Lynch, "but overall I'm pleased with the way things are going so far so I wouldn't imagine I'll be changing things too much."

Pat Devlin, meanwhile, must wait to see if Anto Whelan (hamstring) and Paddy Geraghty (ankle) recover sufficiently to start but there is some good news in the form of Robbie Coyle's return from flu.

Athlone should provide a severe test for a Bray side which Devlin admits could be more consistent but "defensively we've done well and the rest will come if everybody keeps pulling together".