Morgan confident Rebels can see off Sligo

ONE thing that can be said with a degree of certainty about the Cork footballers ahead of this afternoon’s All-Ireland qualifier in Portlaoise (4pm) is that they will treat Sligo with the respect they deserve.

Billy Morgan's team is two games away from an All-Ireland semi-final appearance, but their priority will be to get to Croke Park in eight days' time. And, based on their promising performance against Kerry, nobody would doubt that it's within their capability to advance.

This meeting is the latest of the many 'firsts' which the qualifiers have thrown up over the past five years. Coming just a week after the counties met in a junior semi-final, it represents the first competitive meeting at senior level. By my calculations, Sligo and Kilkenny are the only counties which Cork have never met either in the League or championship.

However far Morgan believes his team can progress, it's clear that he will expect them to build on their Munster final performance and to win back some of the respect they lost in the twin defeats to Kerry in last year's Munster semi-final and the subsequent qualifier loss to Fermanagh.

In between those two games, Cork defeated Clare to record their only win outside Munster since the onset of the qualifier system. The one year they didn't compete was in 2002, when as Munster champions they beat Mayo in the All-Ireland quarter-final before crashing out to Kerry.

By comparison, Sligo made significant progress over the last five years, almost making it to the All-Ireland semi-final in 2002, when they lost to Armagh in a replay. Their current campaign is all the more notable for relegation from the League and a shock defeat in the first round of the Connacht SFC by Leitrim. Since then, they defeated Longford, Kildare and Clare though they lost an outstanding player in Eamonn O'Hara through injury in the middle tie.

This represents a big test for Cork. Not so long ago they would have been expected to be good enough for most counties outside the top ten, but with developments in training and teams definitely benefiting from the qualifier competition, that's no longer the case. Fermanagh proved that last season.

They're not guaranteed victory, but it will be a surprise if they don't win.