Preview: Bray Wanderers vs Shamrock Rovers

• Finbarr O'Sullivan
• Thu, May 29 2008




This Friday night, Bray Wanderers entertain Shamrock Rovers at the Carlisle Grounds at 7.45pm.

Both teams will be looking to get back to winning ways in the league. Bray have not won in three games after losing to Cork City and Sligo Rovers before drawing away to UCD on Tuesday night. Shamrock have drawn their last four in the league but Bray were the last team to beat them when they won 1-0 in the League Cup fixture earlier this month.

For Bray, Alan Gough continues in goal with Chris O'Connor still recovering from a hamstring injury. Gary McCabe will also miss out after the winger was shown the red card by referee Tom Connolly in the match against UCD.

Speaking before Friday's match, Wanderers boss Eddie Gormley said: "I was disappointed we didn't get the three points on Tuesday night but going in I would have taken a draw as Belfield is a graveyard venue for us. I thought we played well enough to win the game."

Rovers' injury problems worsen with captain Aidan Price, Stephen Rice and Ger O'Brien all joining the injury list. Along with these three, Rovers are already missing Dessie Baker, Chris Mulhall, John Martin, Robbie Creevy, Pat Flynn and Darren Stapleton.

Looking forward to the game at Bray, Hoops’ manager Pat Scully said: “They’ve had a bit of a dip lately, while we’re looking to keep our recent form going and finally getting that win we’ve been seeking for the last few weeks. We need to keep our standards high.” He added: “It’s very important that we go out and perform against Bray and hopefully get the result that would move us above them in the table.”

The referee for this Premier Division match will be Anthony Buttimer.

Probable line-ups:
Bray Wanderers: Gough; Ivory, Pender, Doherty, Foran; Kavanagh, Whelan, Cawley, Tresson; Rowe, Dunphy.

Shamrock Rovers: Barry Murphy; Tracy, Ferguson, Danny O’Connor, Maguire; Alan Murphy, Doyle, Coleman, Sean O’Connor; Amond, Purcell.