League Preview: Derry City -v- Cork City
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DERRY CITY
The Candystripes welcome high flyers Cork City to the Brandywell this Friday night desperate to pick up their form of recent times after their blip against Shamrock Rovers last week.
With both teams chasing a European spot, Derry wasted a chance to make ground on Shamrock Rovers who currently occupy 4th position. However Peter Hutton is still reluctant to give up on their chase of European football and wishes for a quick bounce back.
He admitted to derrynow.com that last week's defeat, "makes it that wee bit harder," going on to say " We're going to try and accumulate as many points as we can between now and the end of the season and see where it takes us."
Assessing the current situation, Hutton went on to conclude, "It's inevitable that you're going to get beat sometime so it's about the response. The last time we asked them for a response was after the Shakhtyor disappointment so we will be asking for the same."
Hutton appeared to be optimistic and if his side's latest performances are any to go by he has every right to be. But they will face a tough test against a very strong Cork City side.
Hutton faces being without captain Barry Molloy and Ryan McBride who are injury doubts along with talisman, Rory Patterson who is suspended.
CORK CITY
Cork have been magnificent thus far and sit in 2nd position pushing for the title with John Caulfield doing brilliantly at the helm.
Although, they did hit a rough patch, losing three games in a row, The Rebel Army rescued their title hopes last week with a 1-0 win over St. Patrick's Athletic and will be set on furthering their challenge when they make the long journey North to Derry on Friday.
Cork City manager, John Caulfield, spoke at the weekly press conference about the impact of the victory over St. Pat's.
"There's no doubt it gave us a boost. At training this week, you could see that.”
He went on to shed light on their current situation.
"We're still there, we're six ahead of Rovers and Pat's and four behind Dundalk. Maybe people thought Dundalk had an easy game in Drogheda, but it just shows there is still an awful lot of football to be played and we still have a major say in it, so who knows."
Cork may be 19 points ahead of Derry in the league standings but it is the Candystripes who are the form side coming into this and Caulfield is fully aware of it.
"They're really on a high. They have a very strong local team, very attacking and we know it will be a difficult game for us. We must keep our concentration and we will have to give a top performance if we want to get a result. It's another challenge for us and there's pressure on us to make sure we can try and get a result to keep us in there."
The Cork manager was full of praise for Peter Hutton too.
"Peter has turned them around. They've stopped conceding goals and they are scoring an awful lot. Peter has them playing well and they are very attacking. We know they will be a totally different team."
The Cork side will be without Garry Buckley, Billy Dennehy and Colin Healy who are all suspended with Michael Rafter and Rob Lehane both injured. The side is slightly weakened but will still be able to hold their own against Derry City.
Referee: Derek Tomney
MATCH STATS
Derry City have conceded only seven goals in their 11 home league games this year, the lowest in the league.
Cork City have only failed to score once in their last 13 games at the Brandywell across all competitions.
Derry City's last five home games has seen a grand total of 18 goals scored whereas in Cork City's last five away games, there has only been seven.
BETTING
Derry City 13/10; Draw 11/5; Cork City 21/10.
PREDICTION
Both sides are in need of points for different reasons and I suspect a tight game but with Derry playing great football of late, I feel they will just have the edge and will win 2-1.
Derry City
Injured: None
Doubtful: Barry Molloy, Ryan McBride
Suspended: Rory Patterson
Cork City
Injured: Michael Rafter, Rob Lehane
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Garry Buckley, Billy Dennehy, Colin Healy
