There is an eight-month wait for it to happen but Shamrock Rovers man Roberto Lopes has already drawn up his ideal group of opponents for duty in the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations next year.

And ahead of another game in the defence of the Hoops' Premier Division title today, Lopes has no issues about taking on the best in the shirt of his adopted national team, Cape Verde Islands.

"I say I'm not thinking about it but I'm dreaming about playing against Salah, Mane and Mahrez. If we could get those three teams in my group I'd be absolutely buzzing," says Lopes, a Dubliner who qualifies for Cape Verde through his father and who made his competitive debut for that nation in March, helping them qualify for the finals which are due to be held in January.

"There's lot of games domestically and with Cape Verde, you need to be in the squad first, show what you can do week-in, week-out, train hard with your club in the team and play well.

"But it's a great carrot to look forward to. It's great to be able to tell people we qualified for it, we beat Cameroon, we beat Mozambique, it's a real buzz," he says, Lopes admitting that he's taken to watching TV series in Portuguese, with English subtitles, to improve his linguistic ability and help him bed in with the squad.

He hopes to return to the Rovers starting XI at home to Derry City on Saturday after a health scare forced him to pull out of the squad on the day of a trip to Finn Harps two weeks ago.

"I woke up on the morning of the Harps game and I just felt a pain in my stomach and it got progressively worse. I went to the doctor and he kind of diagnosed me with appendicitis and me thinking I'd be grand, just take the antiobiotics and painkillers and make my way up to where the team was meeting in Monaghan and make a decision on it there," he explains.

"It just got worse in the car to the point where I could barely really sit in the chair so I made the decision that I had to turn around and head towards the hospital to be safe. Lucky enough the antibiotics kicked in when I was in the hospital and settled it right down. I was able to return to training on the Tuesday after."

Now, the focus is on Derry at home, Rovers wary of a repeat of the 2019 season where a title bid ran around mid-season after a bright start.

"I think we spoke about it after that difficult period, at the end of the season, where we dropped points where we shouldn't have so it is in our minds," he says.

"You have to take every game that comes, approach it in the right manner, don't get too carried away and think too far ahead of what's to come.

"It's about the next game. Derry was a banana skin that season for us so we need to really focus on the game today."