LOI preview: Injury-hit Hoops seek to end slump in Drogheda

Shelbourne's title charge is no longer being billed as an early season novelty but a real live prospect.

Two Will Jarvis penalties saw them down an out-of-sorts Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght last week, establishing a six-point lead at the midway point of the campaign.

Damien Duff has been at pains to portray his team as the most hated in the league, which initially felt like a mix between a branding exercise and an obvious attempt to generate a siege mentality. However, it could be on the brink of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy and, as we know, nothing provokes hostility like success.

Going by Duffer's interviews, both pre and post-match, the Shels manager hasn't caught a glance of the Premier Division table since the get-go. The leaders welcome Sligo Rovers to Tolka Park as they continue their surprise tilt at a first league triumph for 18 years.

Their closest current pursuers Derry City are in Oriel Park this evening, as new Dundalk boss Jon Daly takes his first game on home turf. Last weekend saw an inauspicious start as the league's bottom team went down tamely in Galway.

As in previous years, Derry's away form appears more solid than their home form, though they have been held to a large number of draws on the road.

Dundalk, for all the upheaval, have kept a whopping six straight clean sheets at home since shipping five goals on a nightmare evening against Sligo.

Are the champions in crisis? Their squad ravaged by injuries, Shamrock Rovers have taken just five points from their last six games and have slipped nine points off the pace. Stephen Bradley has been supremely relaxed in the midst of other barren runs but, in the past, these slumps tended to occur much earlier in the season.

They are in Drogheda tonight, a