16 July 2017
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Cork City FC will be looking to return to winning ways as they make a Sunday afternoon trip to the Carlisle Grounds to face Bray Wanderers.
City suffered their first defeat of the season on Thursday as they were edged out 1-0 by AEK Larnaca at Turner’s Cross; their last league fixture saw them win 1-0 at home to St. Pat’s last Sunday.
Speaking ahead of the game, City manager John Caulfield said: “All our attention since yesterday morning has been geared towards tomorrow’s game and areas where we feel we can cause Bray problems. We will make a few changes but all our training has been geared towards this game, because we feel we have to get the three points and that is what we are going for.”
“There has been no talk of anything other than this game, because the lads know how big this game is. Obviously, they have had off the field issues and haven’t played in a few weeks, so sometimes going out on the pitch and playing is what you need to do. We expect them to come out with all guns blazing tomorrow to see if they can be the first team in the league to beat us this season. We expect them to put in a top performance, so we know we will need to be at our best tomorrow.”
“It is always a tough venue to go to, it is wide open and we are expecting a right battle, so we have to be ready for it and up for the game. They have brought Flood in who is a big strong centre forward and can hold it up well, Greene and McCabe in midfield are their key guys. They score a lot of goals; if you look at their record all year, scoring goals has not been their problem!”
Alan Bennett and John Kavanagh have both returned to training but may not be risked for this tie, while Kevin O’Connor and Stephen Dooley are both doubts after picking up knocks on Thursday. Johnny Dunleavy will miss out as he recovers from surgery.
Injury News: Johnny Dunleavy, John Kavanagh, Alan Bennett, Kevin O’Connor, Stephen Dooley.
Suspensions: None
Last game: Cork City 0-1 AEK Larnaca
Last league game: Cork City 1-0 St. Pat’s
League Form (most recent game first): W W W W W
