Shanrock Rovers & St pat's set for intriguing curtain-raiser

Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic will raise the curtain ahead of the new League of Ireland season as the two big winners of 2023 clash in the President's Cup final at Tallaght Stadium.

If ever there was a sign of growth in the league then this is it. The attendance tonight will top 8,500 and will set a new record for the fixture.

The Saints competed in the 2014 edition against Sligo Rovers when just 1,330 fans were present to witness a Keith Fahey goal that won it for Pat's.

A record 2,300 fans are set to make the journey from Inchicore, with the whole East Stand sold out, making this the biggest ever Saints crowd to attend an away game at Tallaght Stadium and double their home support from a decade ago.

Both managers will be thankful for a game with something riding on it ahead of the Premier Division opener, giving them an advantage on rivals going into next Friday.

The Hoops have made minor changes to their squad with Darragh Burns the standout addition and he could face his former club tonight.

Richie Towell and the returning Aaron McEneff are unavailable while Johnny Kenny is on the comeback trail from injury, but hopefully they won't be too long.

Towell and Kenny could feature next week with McEneff also likely to come into contention this month.

Stephen Bradley will use the game to make final preparations to face Dundalk next week.

He said: "Our substitutions will be already made in our head and we hope injuries and the game will allow us to do that. It's an important game, there’s something on the line, we’re playing against a good St Pats side and we want to win the game.

"But we’ve always used it as a pre-season game, in terms of getting players ready for the Dundalk game next week. That will continue to be the