Pressure on Dundalk to deliver

When the FAI brought in ‘summer football’ to the League of Ireland, it wasn’t in the script for the season to be over by autumn. Still, with Cork City 15 points clear going into tonight’s latest meeting of the League of Ireland’s ‘New Firm’, that’s a scenario which could arise unless Dundalk can put a stop to Cork’s march at Oriel Park.

The League of Ireland reaches its mid-season break this evening with Stephen Kenny’s men desperately needing a victory tonight to keep alive their hopes of winning a fourth title in a row. For his part, Cork manager John Caulfield won’t be getting carried away, or working out the permutations just yet.

“I’m the manager here. All my focus is on my club, our own business. It’s immaterial about any other club,” said Caulfield. “I don’t think about the league table. I’m around so long. You have to keep driving on, you have to avail of the opportunity. The lads have had a phenomenal start and deserve tremendous credit for what they’ve done but we’re only halfway there. There’s a long long way to go and there’s a serious amount of games in July and August. There’ll be twists and turns and points dropped.”