Cork win over Dublin vital to reinforce Euro bid

AFTER a week in which Cork City was forced to issue a statement insisting that its squad was fully united, manager Pat Dolan still needs a victory over Premier Division strugglers Dublin City tonight.

Following George O’Callaghan’s outburst last week when he criticised the passion of the team and insisted he was unhappy at Turners Cross. Dolan was forced into the public realm to insist nothing out of the ordinary had happened during the week, from his point of view. “It was a very ordinary week. People don’t always get on at football clubs, but you just get on with it,” he said.

“People are always going to be unhappy when they are not in the team and I don’t have a problem with that, but they must be professional and everyone must pull in the same direction.

“It is frustrating that it happened publicly, but there is nothing you can do to stop it. In Cork, we are hungry for success and all we’ve won is one League and one Cup. We have our own media who want stories every day and it is a goldfish bowl, but that is pressure we have to deal with. But we are professionals and we will be ready for the game. I am unhappy about having three away games (all in Dublin) in a row, but we just get on with it. Dublin City are on a run and we’re all looking forward to what should be a competitive game.”

Dolan has a full-strength squad to choose from following Ireland U21 winger Liam Kearney’s return from illness, while Dublin City have a doubt over former England star Carlton Palmer, rated 50/50 with a thigh strain.

Dolan’s counterpart at Dublin City, Roddy Collins, can now see over the horizon to Premier Division, although the manager has stressed that there is still work to be done. Seemingly dead and buried a month ago, Dublin City, while not exactly blowing the survival race wide open, have given themselves a chink of hope with last week’s 3-1 win over Shamrock Rovers.

“Last week’s win was vital,” he said. “If we lost, we would have been as good as down. The win means that Rovers, Pats and Derry are now fighting each other as well as us to stay up. It’s a better situation for us because we didn’t want to be hoping one slipped up.”

Derry City and St Patrick’s Athletic also play tonight and they both still need points from their final few games if they are to guarantee their Premier Division status for next season. Both sides insist that the clash at the Brandywell is the perfect opportunity to claim all three points, but in reality both sides need a few more wins to ensure safety.

Pats’ manager Johnny McDonnell said: “we’ve lost our last two but in fairness, we were playing possibly the best two sides in the country in Shels and Bohs.”

His counterpart Stephen Kenny also believes that his side are capable of getting the points. “They are in form but it’s a home game for us and one that we should win.”

Elsewhere, Dundalk take on Monaghan United at Oriel Park (ko 7.45) in a Division One derby.