Sligo Rovers return to Premier Division action this Friday night as the Bit O’Red travel to Turner’s Cross to take on Cork City, kick-off 7.45pm.
Rovers make the long journey south looking for a third win and as many clean sheets on the bounce as John Russell’s men seek to put eleven points between ourselves and the Rebels at the bottom of the table.
Unbeaten in our last five, this will be Rovers’ third outing against Cork this season. Neither side have managed to beat the other this year so far, with both games between the teams finishing in one all draws.
In team news, captain John Mahon will return having missed the last four outings through suspension. While Francely Lomboto is expected to be available having missed the cup win over Dundalk last Friday night.
New signing Sean Stewart will also be available having attained his international clearance following the full back’s recent move from Cliftonville.
Jake Doyle-Hayes misses out and serves a suspension having picked up his tenth yellow card of the season against Derry City. Cian Kavanagh faces a late fitness test.
Manager Russell also makes a welcome return to the dugout having been absent for the game at Oriel Park with illness.
“This is a huge game for both teams”, Russell says. “I expect Cork will have a huge crowd out to get behind them and as I said earlier in the season, Turner’s Cross is a tough place to go and even tougher when the crowd’s back is up. It’s akin to playing against 12 men. They’re scrapping for their lives and will see this a must win and we need to be prepared for an onslaught. We need to be able to wrestle the game from them and dictate the play.
“We’re only a few points ahead of them and we are still trying to catch the teams above us. We are looking up but we need to make sure we pick up results in these sorts of games and add a real buffer between ourselves and that bottom spot. There’s no better way to do that than by getting a result in Cork on Friday.
“The game’s on tv so that’ll add something to the event and hopefully we’ll have a big crowd coming down to get behind us.
“We’re unbeaten now in five and we’re really pleased with how things have gone the last few weeks. But we must keep the momentum going and keep things ticking over in Cork. We’re in the midst of a busy period now and the players and staff are really enjoying it. We have turned things around somewhat but I knew we always had that in us. We need to keep this going and keep bringing our levels up.
“It’s great to have John (Mahon) back and Sean Stewart in as that gives us options and allows us to move things around a bit more if needed. We will miss Jake (Doyle-Hayes) of course, but we have a squad now that can deal with knocks and suspensions.”
David Goulden