Buckley upbeat about chances

Liam Buckley insists his team are still in contention for a place in the third round of the InterToto Cup despite losing 2-0 …

Liam Buckley insists his team are still in contention for a place in the third round of the InterToto Cup despite losing 2-0 in the first leg of their second-round tie at Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic last week.

The Shamrock Rovers manager conceded that his players have their work cut out to rescue the tie at Richmond Park tomorrow but said: "What we saw out there last week was the very best that they have to offer, I'm sure of that, but I honestly feel we have some improvement left in us and if we can play the way we did in the second half from the start this time then I still believe that we're in with a shout."

Buckley adds Stephen McGuinness to his squad but Keith Doyle misses out after fracturing his cheekbone in last Sunday's match. With Doyle having started on the bench in the away game there is the possibility Buckley will start with the same 11, though he admitted he was strongly considering including Trevor Molloy from the outset this time, possibly at the expense of Glen Fitzpatrick in a 4-3-3 formation.

"Against Odra (Wodzislaw)we set out not to lose the home leg but this time we have to win and Trevor is the sort of player that can get goals on the big occasions so we might look at changing things - I haven't finally made up my mind on it yet," said Buckley.

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"They're clearly a very good side but they did lose three of their four away games in Europe last year and we have to hope that there's a weakness there that we can exploit. If we can get one goal, even late on, then we'll certainly make it difficult for them."

FAI chief executive Fran Rooney, meanwhile, hopes the organisation's a.g.m., at the Radisson hotel in Galway, will mark a major step forward in the attempt to modernise in line with the Genesis report recommendations.

The major item on today's agenda is a proposal to radically revamp the association's committee structure and, in particular, reduce the size of its powerful Board of Management by more than half to just 10 members.

Under the proposal the board will in future consist of the association's chief executive, treasurer, secretary and president and the six chairpersons of the organisation's main committees.

The intention is that the way the committees themselves are put together will also be dramatically altered, with certain members put forward by affiliates entitled to representation, an expanded FAI Council electing others and a small number selected by the FAI leadership.

It is intended to make decision and policy implementation more efficient and effective, and over the past month presentations have been made to various affiliates aimed at securing support for today's proposals.

Little formal opposition has been encountered so far but Rooney remains cautious ahead of this morning's vote.

"I would view the proposals as very positive but nobody's taking anything for granted," he says.

"We have made it clear to everybody that we will take people's reservations on board when we are drawing up the specific rule changes and the feedback that we have had has been very positive and constructive.

"It is only when we get to the vote, though, that we will really see what the feeling is about what is on the table."