Sligo Rovers vs Bohemians

• Gareth Penrose
• Thu, Sep 04 2008




This Friday, league leaders Bohemians travel to the west of Ireland to take on 7th place Sligo Rovers in the Showgrounds. (kick-off 20:00). Bohemians go into the game 10 points clear of fellow Dubliners St Pats.

Sligo Manager Paul Cook faces a similar situation he has faced for most of the season. With a small squad at his disposal, continued injury or absence of key players has meant Cook has rarely put out a full strength squad, often requiring A-Championship players to fill the vacancies.

This week is no different. Seamus Coleman and Romould Boco are boh on International duty whilst long term injuries to Matthew Judge and Steve Feeney rule them out. One small ray of light for Sligo is the return of Mauro Almeida, who trained all week with the squad.

Despite a hugely important game scheduled for Monday night against 2nd place St Pats, Bohs manager Pat Fenlon has stated he is focusing all his attention on Sligo and will be playing a full strength team against the Bit ‘o’ Red.

“For the moment, the game on Monday is irrelevant and we will be solely concentrating on the trip to Sligo. I will pick a team to win this game and will not be holding anything in reserve."

In team news, Jason McGuinness has been training all week and is expected to come into the side as Liam Burn's central defensive partner. Owen Heary will, in all likelihood, revert back to his more familiar right back position. Ken Oman's injury is responding well to treatment but he will not return to action for at least another week.

Glen Cronin has made strong progress in the last few weeks and though not available for Sligo, will be considered for the Pat's game. Both Gary Deegan and Stephen O'Donnell are suspended for the trip to the Showgrounds so Fenlon must consider other options in midfield.

Deegan will serve a second match ban against St. Patrick's but O’Donnell returns for the vital derby. The mercurial Mindaugas Kalonas is away on international duty with Lithuania and will not return until next Wednesday but a refreshed Neale Fenn will take the vacant forward position after a period on the bench.

Extratime Prediction: The bookies have installed Bohs as clear favourites for this clash, at odds of 4-5. Sligo Rovers are available at 3-1, whilst a draw is 9-4. We expect Bohemians to continue their winning run. Despite missing the successful midfield duo of O’Donnell and Deegan, Bohs squad has far more depth than Sligo. We predict a 3-1 win for the Dubliners.