12 March 2018
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Cork City welcome Shamrock Rovers to Turner’s Cross tonight, as they look to bounce back quickly from Friday’s defeat to Dundalk.
Friday’s defeat saw City drop points for the first time this season, having recorded three consecutive wins prior to that. City’s sole outing at Turner’s Cross up to now saw them record a 2-0 win over Waterford.
The visitors will no doubt come into the game in confident form, having scored six in each of their last two outings, at home to Bray Wanderers (6-0) and Derry City (6-1). This followed a defeat (away to Bohemians) and a draw (at home to Dundalk) in their opening two fixtures.
Speaking to the media after training on Sunday morning, City manager John Caulfield said: “Everyone was very disappointed with the performance last Friday, but, overall, this group have been fantastic over the last few years and the new players have been excellent since they came in. When you lose like that, you have to take the criticism and come back stronger. You have to show what you are made of and that is what tomorrow is all about.”
“The quick turnaround is difficult but that’s the way it is. The lads feel themselves that they didn’t do enough on Friday and there were a lot of below-par performances, so they are looking forward to tomorrow’s game and getting back out there. Hopefully, tomorrow night, we will see a totally different performance.”
“We need a massive crowd behind us tomorrow night. Rovers are title contenders; they’ve scored six in their last two games and they are flying, so we need a passionate, hostile atmosphere and we need to play well. Rovers is a massive club and they have brought in a lot of new players, as well as keeping the bulk of last year’s team.”
“It is a massive game for us with another vital three points on offer. We need to be on our game ad we need that massive support from the crowd, which has always been there. It will be a difficult game and we need to bounce back. Stephen has his team playing with a lot of energy and passion, and they are scoring lots of goals. I would imagine it will be a tough game, a quick game played at high intensity.”
On the injury front, Mark McNulty and Alan Bennett will both be assessed prior to kick-off, while Josh O’Hanlon is expected to return to the squad. Johnny Dunleavy is not yet back in contention.
Injury News: Johnny Dunleavy, Mark McNulty, Alan Bennett
Suspensions: none
Last game: Dundalk 1-0 Cork City
Last home game: Cork City 2-0 Waterford
League Form (most recent game first): L W W W
