John Caulfield: 'A few lads out there pretend to be hard and when someone runs by them they hit the deck'

Cork City make the trip to Dublin to face Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium on Friday night knowing there is a possibility they could be Premier Division champions come full time.

There is also a chance, like their previous encounters this season, that there could be no shortage of passion on show from both sides that at times has come close to boiling over.

A war of words has developed throughout the season between City manager John Caulfield and Rovers boss Stephen Bradley.

In their most recent encounter, Cork’s Alan Bennett was accused of stamping on Rovers defender David Webster.

Caulfield said the Rovers man feigned injury, while in response Bradley called those comments ‘disgraceful.'

Ahead of their trip to Tallaght on Friday night, City boss John Caulfield has said that his side must focus on their own game and not get involved in any type of ‘gamesmanship’ from the Hoops.

“I always say, guys like Alan Bennett, Brian Gartland , the late Ryan McBride were guys who just got on with it and played the game.

“But there’s a few lads out there who pretend to be hard and when someone runs by them, they hit the deck.

“Ultimately, at the end of the day, there’s been a lot of gamesmanship going on. We have to be prepared for gamesmanship and from that point of view, we need to keep our discipline because we got caught the last day with Alan getting sent off and we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“We expect them to be very physical, we expect gamesmanship, so we have to be very cute and make sure we concentrate on our own game and what’s on the pitch. That’s what we’ll do and that’s what we’ve done all season.”

Should City beat Rovers on Friday night and if Dundalk drop points the same night at home to St Patrick’s Athletic, City can become crowned league champions on Friday night. Caulfield though is keeping firmly focused and said that nothing is won yet.

“We need two wins to win the league title, but we have a very difficult run in and it is not a formality despite the fact that everyone wants to say that it is.

“For me it is about just keeping our heads down and making sure that in the next number of weeks we can get the results that will win us the league.”

A player looking to make a significant impact on proceedings this Friday night is City midfielder Gary Buckley.

A solid presence for the Leesiders in the middle of the park throughout this season, Buckley has chipped in on the goal scoring front, finding the back of the net on six occasions in the league.

He will not be complaining if he can add to that tally on Friday night against Rovers, with the 24-year-old keen to pick up his first League Of Ireland Premier Division winner's medal.

“Coming towards the end of the season every single game is important,” said the Cork native.

“There is sure to be some extra spice against Rovers. They will not want to us to wouldn’t want us to win on their patch.

‘It’ll be a good game but we have to approach it like any other game and we’ll be going for three points, nothing else.’

City are a side on a mission and look to take the final steps to league glory, but Rovers will be keen to spoil the party and showcase they will be a side keen to push on next season and challenge for the title in 2018.

Bradley’s side still have tonnes to play for this season. They are in the EA Sports Cup final and also still in the FAI Cup, so there is still very much a possibility that silverware could be heading their direction before the end of the year.