John Caulfield wants Cork City to show ‘best hand’

Denis Hurley

Defender Conor McCarthy and midfielder Gearóid Morrissey are both out of Cork City’s Champions League first qualifying round second-leg clash with Legia Warsaw, but manager John Caulfield still has some hope that goalkeeper Mark McNulty could be fit.

McCarthy (hamstring) and Morrissey (groin) were both forced off in last week’s first leg at Turner’s Cross, in which City lost 1-0 to a late goal from Michal Kucharczyk.

Steven Beattie replaced McCarthy and is in line to take over at right-back, while Morrissey’s absence could force a chain-reaction, with Jimmy Keohane dropping to midfield, Karl Sheppard moving to the right wing ,and Graham Cummins coming in at centre-forward. Kieran Sadlier is another offensive option while Alan Bennett may be called upon in defence.

McNulty missed that game after sustaining an ankle injury in the league game against Shamrock Rovers and also sat out the friendly against Burnley last Friday, with Peter Cherrie deputising.

Caulfield is willing to give McNulty a chance, but anything less than full fitness won’t be risked at the Legia Warsaw Municipal Stadium (8pm Irish time).

“We’re going to leave it until the last minute,” Caulfield said.

He did a light session this morning, he’ll do a little bit this evening, but I must make sure that he’s 100% because Peter did great last week, he did great against Burnley on Friday, so at least he’s in form, which is good. We’ll wait and see.

Immediately after the first leg, Caulfield wasn’t overly optimistic about his team’s chances of advancing — having executed their gameplan, the only area City failed was in converting the opportunities created.

Only once in the club’s history — against Cwmbran Town in 1993, Caulfield playing — have City advanced in Europe after a first-leg defeat, and that was with the second game at home. Nevertheless, the manager isn’t surrendering. While a gung-ho approach isn’t required with just a goal to make up, he expects to have to soak up pressure and force some chances.

“When you’re the underdogs and you’re playing a team that plays at a higher level with technically better players, you know that you don’t get many opportunities to win those games,” he said.

“While I was downbeat after the match, it was because we had chances to score and we didn’t. That’s what was disappointing, because our gameplan went the right way, except we didn’t take our opportunities.

But we’re looking forward to the game. Our team are brave, they’ll leave everything on the pitch. We know how difficult it’ll be and what a great team Legia are, but we’re looking forward to playing out here.

“We’ve looked at different options but from our point of view we know that they’ll try to win the tie early. They’ll come out very quick off the blocks and we’ll need to defend well. But we’re looking forward to the tie. It’s fantastic for us. The club was dead eight years ago...we’re in the Champions League now. In Warsaw, playing a Champions League games, it’s fantastic for us.”

Legia, who begin their league campaign at the weekend, come into the game on the back of a 3-2 defeat to Arka Gydnia in the Polish Supercup. It’s a game Caulfield has studied and, while he acknowledged that it showcased their attacking capabilities, he also senses opportunity.

“Carlitos came in,” he said, “really good player, top signing as a striker, and [Chris] Phillips came back into the middle of the park and played really well, scored.

“They brought in two subs who came on in Cork. It just showed the type of team they are. They’re offensive, they move the ball quickly, technically superb players.

It was a great game to watch, the intensity was phenomenal, end-to-end stuff. Legia would feel unlucky because they certainly had six or seven great chances. But they conceded, so they’re areas that we’ve looked at.”Even if City don’t upset the odds, they will still be in Europe, receiving a bye to the Europa League third qualifying round, but Caulfield doesn’t see it as a free hit.

“I wouldn’t say that,” he said, “we’ve thought about nothing other than this match.

“You always want to show your best hand. You’re representing not only your own club but your country as well. It is a bonus this year that at some point you’ll go into the Europa League, but we’ve never mentioned.

“The beauty about sport is that you never know. The odds are stacked against us but we’d be disappointed if we didn’t create a few chances.”