Cork City and Sligo bid to get back on track
Both clubs are licking their wounds after painful reversals in their last games, with Sligo’s woes accentuated by their long journey home after bowing out of the Europa League in Albania on Thursday night.
Unlucky to be 2-1 down to Vllaznia Shkoder after the first leg, Sligo scarcely enjoyed the breaks in the away game despite coming back from a goal down to draw 1-1 through an Alan Keane strike, losing the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
But there was still a further sting in the tale for Paul Cook’s team as, in what was a hostile setting, captain Conor O’Grady was red-carded for kicking out at an opponent in injury time.
For Cork City, the kick in the teeth also came late on, in the form of a last-gasp Ryan Guy goal which gave St Patrick’s Athletic all three points at Turner’s Cross on Tuesday. Now, manager Paul Doolin is hoping for a quick and positive response from his charges.
“Sligo will not be an easy game, but it does offer us an opportunity to get back to winning ways after the defeat to Pat’s,” said the City boss. “At the moment we just don’t seem to be able to put a consistent run of results together — ideally you would pick up at least a point out of every game. You have to pick up points when you’re not playing well, but we are not doing that. We need to put a run together again. One win is no good if you lose the next week — you need to look at winning five or six games.”
Robert Mezeckis and Billy Dennehy are both still sidelined with achilles and hamstring injuries, while Joe Gamble (knee) is also a doubt. Timmy Kiely returned to training this week after a foot injury and should be available.
Doolin added that he is expecting a tough game. “Sligo are a good squad and I don’t think people always remember that. They have some very good players and they are now an established Premier Division side, and will cause problems for any team.”
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