Sligo Rovers v Derry City: As his team continued their preparations for tomorrow's Carlsberg-sponsored FAI Cup encounter with Sligo Rovers at the Showgrounds, Stephen Kenny's title-race related war of words with Shelbourne's Pat Fenlon rumbled on yesterday.

Reacting to Fenlon's criticism of Derry's players for over celebrating their win against Shelbourne on Tuesday evening and of Kenny himself for what was described as the "crap" he talked in relation to the Dubliners' attempt to have their game against Bohemians replayed, the Derry manager said his rival had displayed "bad judgment and a lack of dignity".

"The fact is," continued Kenny, "that I expressed an opinion about a hypothetical situation (the Bohemians game being replayed). I never criticised Shelbourne in any way yet I feel his response has been very personal. As for the players, I don't think there was anything unreasonable about the way they reacted to the end of a game that, had it been lost, probably would have put them out of the title race.

"Anyway, if he wants to talk about the behaviour of players, and I wouldn't normally mention this but in the circumstances it seems fair enough, we had a situation down at Tolka earlier in the season on the one occasion when they did beat us where one of their squad opened the door of our dressingroom afterwards and shouted in 'Yiz are shite'."

The row seems a slightly comical distraction for Kenny as he looks to concentrate on Sunday's trip to Sligo. Darren Kelly looks to be out of the game having taken a knock to his ankle during Tuesday's win while Mark Farren and Ciarán Martyn are slight doubts. Both Ken Oman and Clive Delaney are available to step in for Kelly while Killian Brennan could return to the left side of midfield if he doesn't further aggravate the abdominal strain that ruled him out of the Shelbourne game.

Kenny says he and his players expect a tough game and cites the likes of Darren Manseram and Paul McTiernan as players capable of causing the visitors problems.

Rovers manager Seán Connor goes further, listing the majority of his 11 who will start tomorrow as having the capacity to turn things Sligo's way with "a moment of genius".

Their form, as it happens, has been less than inspiring over recent weeks with just one point from their last three league games while their success rate in cup semi-finals at the Showgrounds over the years (two wins and two draws in seven games is a little short of awe inspiring) but Connor remains confident that on their day his players are more than a match for any of the country's best sides.

"We've shown we can compete with them all, Shelbourne, Drogheda, Cork . . . and Derry won't fancy coming here because we're one of the few teams that have beaten them and beaten them quite easily."

City, indeed, may find life a little uncomfortable in the more confined setting of the Showgrounds than at home, where they have beaten Sligo twice this season. And if it weren't for the fact that it would mean yet another game being pencilled into their already hectic end-of-season schedule Kenny and his men might just be happy to settle for bringing this tie back to the Brandywell.