Derry v Shelbourne Venue: Brandywell Kick-off: 7.45It may not be quite the make-or-break affair the trip to Cork was on the last day of last season, but few of the home fans at the Brandywell this evening will be under any illusions regarding the importance of Derry City's fifth and final meeting this year with league leaders Shelbourne.

A home win would leave the northerners just three points behind Pat Fenlon's side at the top with a game more to play, while defeat at the hands of the Dubliners would suggest another runners-up spot for a team that have already won one cup this season and remain firmly in contention for the other.

"Certainly if we lose it then we're going to be struggling," concedes City boss Stephen Kenny, "but if we draw, and win the game in hand, then it's only three points with both of us still having some tough games to come. In that situation we believe we'd still be very much in there challenging."

City welcome back four players from suspension, with Barry Molloy, Killian Brennan, Ken Oman and Rúaidhrí Higgins available again, while Gary Beckett returns having missed Friday's draw with Drogheda United due to the birth of his baby daughter. Kevin McHugh, however, misses out after having been sent off at the weekend.

After failing to beat Drogheda for a second time in the space of a couple of weeks, City have little room for manoeuvre if they are to leapfrog their rivals during the run-in, and their task looks all the more difficult given they must still visit United Park for another meeting with Paul Doolin's side.

Otherwise, their run-in looks less daunting than that of Shelbourne, who must travel to Sligo and Cork.

Shelbourne have enjoyed poor fortunes against Derry City since Kenny took charge a couple of seasons back.

"We know all too well how good (Shelbourne) are, but we've been playing well ourselves of late," says Kenny. "We played three games in six days last week and didn't concede a goal, while our home record this season is second to none, so we're going into the game with a fair bit of confidence.

"We started last week 10 points behind them, now the gap is down to six and we have the opportunity to come out of tonight just three points off the top with a game in hand, so there's some momentum there and it's up to everybody to make sure we don't let it slip."

Kenny has slightly different problems to Fenlon, with the northerners embroiled in a frantic succession of fixtures that will continue at the weekend when they take on Sligo Rovers in the cup.

Shelbourne, on the other hand, having had one enforced rest due to the cancellation of their league game against Dublin City last week, will have another one this weekend having been knocked out by City two rounds back in Tolka Park.

"It's been hectic all right," says Kenny. "So much so that when I gave the lads Sunday off, they were laughing afterwards that it felt like a week."

He'll be hoping they play that way this evening too, for any hint of fatigue is likely to be punished by a team which have taken 17 points from their last seven outings, averaging fractionally short of two goals a game in the process.

Owen Heary, taken off half-way through Friday's defeat of UCD due to concerns over a hamstring problem, is the only doubt. But with Greg O'Halloran, Colin Hawkins and Alan Moore all back from suspension, Fenlon anticipates another positive, attacking performance.

"All this season we've played every game looking to win, home and away," he says. "Just look at the players we have, all the goals we've scored and where those goals have come from. We don't know how to approach a game any other way and we're not going to change that at this stage."