Morr to come from Danny in Cork

With pre-season training due to restart on Leeside next Monday, the Cork City squad will be joined by a familiar face as the club have announced the re-signing of Republic of Ireland under 21 international Danny Morrissey.

Despite missing parts of the first half of the season through injury, the 20 year old striker came back with a bang and a blistering goalscoring run saw him finish 2013 as the club’s top scorer in all competitions with 12 goals.

The Midleton native was rewarded for his displays (which included a hat trick against Derry City) with a call up to the Republic of Ireland under 21 squad, and he finished the season on a high with a goalscoring performance in the 4-2 win over St Patrick’s Athletic on the last day of the season

Having come through Cork City’s esteemed under 19 set up the news of Morrissey re-signing will be a welcome boost to the Leesiders, many of whom had expected the player to leave in the off season after a series of trials in England.

The prolific striker was unlucky to arrive at Wigan on the day former manager Owen Coyle was sacked and also saw a proposed transfer to Huddersfield fall through. While on trial at Bournemouth, he scored the only goal in a reserve game against a QPR reserve team that had plenty of Premiership and international experience and Morrissey also turned down a second trial at Blackburn Rovers.

Providing everyone remains fit, Cork City manager John Caulfield will have a welcome selection headache up front next season with new signings Anthony Elding and Michael Rafter also vying for a starting spot.

Speaking to CorkCityFC.ie, manager John Caulfield was thrilled to have the promising attacker signed up for 2014.

“It’s brilliant having Danny back. He had a fantastic second half to last season and got some vital goals. He’s a fantastic player - with great feet and great pace – and I can understand why there was a lot of interest from England for him. Thankfully, he has resigned with us for the season and we’re hoping he can really kick on and score goals regularly this year.

“The sky’s the limit (for him) – the crucial thing is that he works as hard as he can because sometimes when you come on the scene as an unknown, you get a little bit of freedom; everybody will know who he is this season though so it’ll probably be a little tougher. Danny has tremendous ability, and a great attitude - so I’m really looking forward to working with him.”

Also speaking to CorkCityFC.ie, Morrissey himself was looking forward to the 2014 season and working with Anthony Elding in particular.

“I was very impressed by what John (Caulfield) had to say,” the Midleton native said. “I’m raring to go. I’d like a good pre-season under my belt and to kick on then from the 7th of March. If I can stay injury-free, I think I can do well this year.”

Morrissey revealed that he is looking forward to playing alongside new recruit Anthony Elding and is predicting a positive 2014 campaign for the Leesiders.

“Anthony’s a big man. He’s the same as Killer (Kilduff) in that he’s big and strong and good in the air. I can play off him, and I think we’ll do well together.

“With the squad that John’s after putting together, there’s no reason we can’t finish in the top four. We’re as good as any other team in the League, and – on our day – we can beat anyone.”

Extratime.ie will have reaction from Danny Morrissey in the coming days.