Cork looking forward to visit of Shamrock Rovers

This morning Cork City manager John Caulfield spoke to the Extratime.ie at a sunny Bishopstown Stadium ahead of tomorrow’s clash with third placed Shamrock Rovers kick off 7.45pm in Turners Cross.

The mood in camp appears to be very good at the moment with the ex-City striker very upbeat ahead of the visit of Shamrock Rovers yet he still acknowledges that it will be a very tough game in the Cross.

“We’re looking forward to it, I suppose it’s really to bounce back from the three wins last week and we know how big the game is and obviously we’re expecting a huge crowd. It’s going to be two teams near the top of the table both having eyes on trying to win it and keeping the pressure up on Dundalk. Obviously under Pat Fenlon, Rovers have changed their style and play and obviously it will be a difficult game.”

So far this season Cork City have struggled to beat any of the teams in the top five having drawn with each side with the exception being the defeat at home to Dundalk. When asked if he considers these to be points dropped early in the campaign as his team keep up their pursuit of champions Dundalk he responds: “No it doesn’t as the same has happened with all the other teams bar Dundalk, we’ve gone away to Rovers and Pats and drawn while Rovers and Pats have also drawn. So Dundalk is the only team in fairness who beat us and Pats and that’s why they are top of the table. All the rest of us are in the same bracket.”

The previous encounter between the two teams at the start of the season was a very drab 0-0 game played in Tallaght Stadium and the manager was asked if he see’s anything different happening tomorrow night in front of an expected crowd of between four and five thousand spectators.

“It’s going to be a very tight game because they have played 13 games and only conceded two away so already its showing their intention and they have been keeping things very tight. They have had three draws and three wins in their six away matches. They have the best defensive record in the league having conceded six in total. It’s less than half a goal a game so you can see his intention going into Rovers was to shore up the defence and obviously they haven’t scored as many goals.

"We are the second highest goal scorers in the league. It will be an interesting game but it certainly won’t be an open attacking game as that’s not the way Rovers play. It will be tight and they might try and do a counter attack. As I’ve said we’re in front of our home supporters. We have a good record having scored 20 goals and I’m hoping we’re good enough to open them up.”

Danny Morrissey was injured in Tuesday’s EA Sports Cup clash with St. Patricks Athletic blocking down an attempted clearance on 73 minutes and as a result the game was held up for a period of time as the Midleton man had to be stretchered of the pitch. John Caulfield gave the latest update on the injury.

“Not as bad as first feared, he’s getting assessed tomorrow again but there is a lot of swelling and the medical team have told me that it’s not as bad as first feared, but as to what it is they still haven’t come up with an answer. It appears to be a jarred knee though. There is a bit of pain but not as bad as first feared.”

Regarding other players in the City team that will miss out on tomorrow’s clash Caulfield gave the following update.

“John Dunleavy is out, Kieran Djilali is out and Bennett will be assessed closer to the game but is currently rated 50/50 as it’s a big call to come back for a big game after being out for three weeks.”

City is yet to get a red card in the league this season so haven’t had any suspensions to deal with in comparison to every other team in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.

Regarding last Tuesday’s 5-3 penalty shoot out defeat to St. Patricks Athletic in the EA Sports Cup the Enniskean man was happy with the performances of many of the fringe players on the night but was a bit disappointed that his team failed to take their opportunities when they were presented near the end of normal time.

”We were unlucky the other night being fair. Pat’s had a few chances but certainly when we equalised we had a few chances in the final 20 minutes to win the game but didn’t take our opportunities. There was some great performances around the park.

However the American born manger makes it very clear that the league game tomorrow is far more important than the EA Sports Cup clash to the survival of the club by saying;

“You like to win every game and of course we would like to progress in the League Cup but at the end of the day the survival of this club depends on Europe. To be in the top three, four teams in Ireland you have got to be hitting Europe. Until the day that winning the League Cup gets you into Europe the top clubs will always take the league more serious.”

Lastly with the mention of Europe, Caulfield was asked does he have any plans to strengthen the side ahead of the European adventure this summer.

“At the minute I’m looking to tomorrow night. It’s the biggest game of the season so far for us. Three points on offer. We keep the pressure on and we do a lot of work in the background but total focus on tomorrow night. Rovers will be a very tough game, very tight game and most important for us is to get the win tomorrow night.”