INJURY-HIT CORK City will need a slice of luck if they are to keep their Setanta Sports Cup hopes alive.
Club captain Kevin Murray, Dan Murray and Gearóid Morrissey are definitely missing for tonight’s semi-final first leg against Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght Stadium.
There are doubts about several other key players including Shane Duggan, Colin Healy and Neal Horgan, leaving Rebel boss Tommy Dunne facing something of an injury crisis.
Rovers won only their second league game on Friday night, thumping Bray Wanderers 7-0, and Dunne is wary of the threat the Hoops will pose now that they’ve found form in front of goal.
“We’re going there and like the Sligo game, we’re going to give it everything we have,” Dunne told the club website. “I think we need a bit of the rub of the green if we can get it this time around.
“If we can keep the tie alive that’s most important and to bring it back to Turner’s Cross. There I think it could be a really good match.”
Rovers are missing defender David Elebert and striker Tommy Stewart tonight.
Meanwhile Sligo Rovers boss Ian Baraclough is anxious that the champions don’t rest on their laurels ahead of tonight’s trip to face Drogheda United.
Saturday’s 2-0 win over Cork extended Sligo’s winning start to 10 games in all competitions, a run which includes a resounding 8-0 win over Glentoran in the previous round.
“We have had a few days to get ready to go again and there is a final at stake over these two legs,” Baraclough told the club website.
“I want to win this competition, it is a chance for some early-season silverware and it is one that has eluded the club.”
Joseph Ndo has returned to training but Seamus Conneely, Danny North and Ciaran Kelly are all unavailable. Gary O’Neill (calf) is Drogheda’s only doubt.
There’s also one game in the Airtricity League Premier Division tonight as Limerick host Bohemians in Thomond Park.
Setanta Sports Cup semi-finals, first legs
- Shamrock Rovers v Cork City (7.30pm)
- Drogheda United v Sligo Rovers (7.45pm)
Airtricity League Premier Division
- Limerick v Bohemians (7.45pm)
