FAI CUP FINAL:SHAMROCK ROVERS manager Michael O'Neill admitted yesterday neither Gary Twigg nor Aidan Price have trained since the club clinched the league title in Bray last Friday week but the northerner insisted that both are still likely to be fit for Sunday's Ford-sponsored FAI Cup final against Sligo.
“They are concerns, little concerns,” he said. “But I expect them to be alright. They’ve been working very hard with the physio but until they start training you can’t be 100 per cent sure. They’re both doing everything they can to be fit for Sunday, though, and at this stage we expect them to be fit.”
If the pair make it then Rovers will bring something approaching a full squad with them to the Aviva Stadium, with just long-term injury absentees Seán O’Connor, Dan Murray and Pat Sullivan, as well as suspended midfielder Robert Bayly, missing.
That the protracted system for processing suspensions has meant Bayly, like Sligo’s Richie Ryan and Matthew Blinkhorn, will miss the game for offences committed many weeks ago is, says O’Neill, something that should be looked at but it is Blinkhorn he feels most sympathy for.
“Robert’s sending off and suspension was warranted so he’ll just have to live with the consequences of his actions,” he said. “I feel for the two lads, though, and Mattie only has four bookings, which is very low. I can understand why people are angry and disappointed about it but, to be fair, the league does have to set down some rules and try to stick to them.”
– Emmet Malone
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