For the fourth year running, Belfast's big two of Linfield and Glentoran have been paired together, and for the third year running, Derry City will join them. For St Pat's, SS Cup introductions are needed as they were in a group with Cork, Swifts and Portadown last year.

Derry welcome back Stephen Kenny as manager with high hopes of doing well in this competition.

It'll be a new look Candystripes team with former UCD men Darren Quigley and Connor Sammon moving to the Brandywell along with Stephen Grey. On the debit side, Killian Brennan, Ken Oman and fans' favourite Gary Beckett are all gone.

The return of Kenny has been a little too positive for comfort. The expectations seem to be very high for a club that did little last season apart from that League Cup win and finished way down the league table.

While it is vital to remember that Kenny didn't exactly cover himself in glory over at Dunfermline, he knows this team and city inside out and could get the good times rolling straight away.

Kenny may or may not be a miracle worker.

Pat's boss Johnny McDonnell could claim to be just that, having taken the Saints on a rollercoaster ride in this competition last season which saw his side top group 2 and eventually go out to winners Drogs in the semi-finals.

As the capital city's only representative for the second year in a row, a lot rests on their shoulders.

McDonnell must do without long serving defenders Colm Foley and Darragh Maguire. Foley has retired, while Maguire has moved to Shamrock Rovers having opted not to take up a full-time contract, as did Anthony Murphy, who has gone to Sligo Rovers.

Dessie Byrne returns from Bohs to add some much needed metal to the back four, while Bobby Ryan also comes in. The big surprise arrival is Republic of Ireland international Joe O'Cearuill on a three-year deal and he's just what Pat's need.

Those aside, the team will pick itself with Barry Ryan, Dave Rogers, Mark Quigley, Gary O'Neill et al slotting in.

Linfield will be looking for revenge this year having lost last year's final, at home, to Drogheda.

Manager David Jeffrey has a huge squad, most of whom have been at Windsor Park since their first, successful, SSC campaign in 2005.

The squad certainly contains some of the best players in the Irish League: Kris Lindsay, Alan Mannus, Tim Mouncey, Jamie Mulgrew, Thomas Stewart, Peter Thompson. The list goes on.

It also includes 500-goals man Glenn Ferguson, who hit and surpassed that glorious mark in last month's CIS Cup final last-gasp victory over Crusaders.

Mannus and Thompson were in the Northern Ireland squad for the recent game with Bulgaria, while Stewart and Mulgrew were in the Northern Under-21 squad for the match in Israel.

The Blues have been on the go since last June and will have played 40 games when they meet Derry in their SSC opener.

They met Glens in their traditional St Stephen's Day fixture last December and were beaten 1-0.

Glens themselves will also have played well over 40 games when they meet Pat's in their opening game - taking into account their European, friendly, IPL, County Antrim Shield and CIS Cup games.

They've had a torrid time of it in the SSC, finishing bottom of their group each time.

Next Fixture

Derry City / April 22nd @ 7:45pm
Competition: League
Venue: Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium
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Team	Pld	Pts
Shelbourne	11	21
Bohemian FC	11	19
Shamrock Rovers	10	18
Derry City	11	16
St Patrick's Athletic	11	15
Galway United FC	10	14
Sligo Rovers	10	13
Waterford FC	11	13
Drogheda United	10	8
Dundalk	11	5