City can’t afford any slips

Manager John Caulfield describes this evening’s trip to Athlone as Cork City’s "biggest game of the season" and, no doubt, he’ll have much the same to say about the side’s seven remaining league games after tonight.

He’s right too, in that the SSE Airtricity League title run-in — which, barring a collapse by either side, is looking like a two-horse race between second-placed City and leaders Dundalk — now becomes, in effect, a series of mini cup finals, each game capable of delivering a knockout blow either way.

But, to make things even more interesting, the same high-stakes dynamic applies to Athlone Town who, anchored to the foot of the table, will be scrapping for every single point in their battle for survival.