Doolin hoping for win against depleted Sligo

Cork City will be hoping to go one better when they welcome Sligo Rovers to Turner’s Cross tonight, kick-off 7.45pm.

City and Sligo drew in the first game of the season and boss Paul Doolin is confident that his side are too strong for Rovers on home soil.

Robert Mezeckis (Achilles) and Davin O’ Neill (ankle) are likely to miss out for Cork, while long-term absentees Neal Horgan (elbow) and Stephen O’Donnell (knee) remain on the sidelines.

City manager Paul Doolin said: “We are now a quarter of the way through the season, and while there is still a long way to go, I feel we are doing well.

"I think everyone knows that if you want to challenge for honours, then you have to be consistent, and at the moment, we are showing good consistency.

“I think the fact that we are missing a number of players through injury, it gives us a chance to change things around within the limits of our squad.

"We have some fine young players at the club, but this league is very demanding physically and I have to strike a balance between giving a young player a chance and risking not getting the result we need.”

For Sligo, joining long-term injured players Mauro Almeida and Stephen Parkhouse are Raffael Cretaro (calf), Brian Cash (hamstring) and Sean Doherty (hamstring) who all picked up injuries in the game against Drogheda.

Danny Ventre and Owen Morrison will be watching the game from the stand having been sent off in last week’s game.

Connor O'Grady should be fit to start, while Ross Mc Loughlin, Owen Torpey and Jason Noctor have been added to the squad.