Dublin rivals St Patrick's Athletic and Shamrock Rovers return to action at Richmond Park tonight, kick-off 8pm.

Both sides entered the mid-season break in good form and will be hoping they have lost none of the confidence gained in recent outings.

Rovers have won both games between the sides this season; in the league and the EA Sports Cup, but Pat's boss Jeff Kenna is hoping it is third time lucky for his side.

Kenna said: 'Rovers beat us 2-0 in the league and also in the league cup and nobody likes losing matches, especially derby matches.

'They're a good side. They pose a real threat up front with the likes of [Gary] Twigg, [Dessie] Baker, [Padraig] Amond and [Tadhg] Purcell. We'll have to show the same levels of intensity as we did against Bohs to get a result.'

St Pat's will be missing Damien Lynch (ankle), Darragh Ryan (hamstring), Gary Dempsey (leg), Mark Leech (leg) and Mark Quigley (jaw).

John Lester and Dave Partridge are also absent through suspension.

Cork City's win over Galway United last night relegated Rovers to fourth place. They will obviously be keen to regain that place and stay within five points of Bohemians at the top.

Rovers will be without suspended midfielder Stephen Rice, while goalkeeper Robert Duggan (thigh) and defender Darragh Maguire are rated as doubtful.

Hoops boss Michael O'Neill hopes his players can pick up where they left off before the break.

O'Neill said: 'We went into the break on a high, and even though it was only a short break . everyone came back to training last Monday feeling very hungry for football.

'The training's been really good all week, the players are refreshed, and looking forward to the challenges facing us in the second half of the season.

'It's a tough one, but we have the benefit of having gone there already this season, when we beat them in the EA Sports Cup. They've a good squad but we'll be going there in confidence.'

Next Fixture

Waterford / April 19th @ 7:45pm
Competition: League
Venue: Richmond Park
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Team	Pld	Pts
Shelbourne	10	21
Derry City	10	16
Shamrock Rovers	9	15
St Patrick's Athletic	10	14
Bohemian FC	9	13
Sligo Rovers	9	12
Waterford FC	10	12
Galway United FC	9	11
Drogheda United	9	8
Dundalk	9	4