Rovers regroup as McGuinness faces long lay-off

Derry City v Shamrock Rovers:  As if they hadn't suffered enough setbacks at Shamrock Rovers this season, they were yesterday getting used to the idea they will be without defender Jason McGuinness for the rest of the season. The knee injury the under-21 international picked up against his former club Bohemians has turned out to be much worse than originally thought.

Rovers boss Roddy Collins described the loss of the centre half as "an horrendous blow" and expressed concern it would force a major tactical rejig just when the club were hoping to build on some good recent results.

"Not only was Jason on top of his defensive game but he was also scoring a few goals for us from set pieces," said Collins.

"And because he was doing so well for us at the back we were able to play Kieran Foley up front, which meant we could be that bit more physical and direct. That's likely to change now, though I haven't quite decided what we're going to do yet."

Tony Sheridan and Foley are both doubts for this evening's cup quarter-final in Derry, but Collins says he will give them every chance to play a part in a game he admits is something of a sideshow to Rovers just now.

"I love the cup and it's great to be still in it but what I wouldn't want to end up doing is to have a great run and for that to cost us points we can't afford to drop in the league," he says.

"To be honest, I'd hate to end up in the cup final and relegated. It'd be a disaster."

Leading scorer Mark Farren is Derry's only concern ahead of the game; he is looking to shake the chest infection that forced Stephen Kenny to take him off during the second half of the league cup final at Belfield.

If he doesn't make it, either Stephen O'Flynn or Pat McCourt will feature up front as Derry bid to extend their unbeaten run to 22 games in all competitions.

"There's been a great reaction to the win the other night," says Kenny, "and it was wonderful for the players because for seven of the 11 it was the first final of their careers. We've had to get back to reality very quickly, though, because this is a very big game for us. They're the only team to beat us up here all season and we know we have to do our stuff if we're going to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Meanwhile, leading scorer Olivia O'Toole is expected to return to Ireland's starting line-up for the World Cup qualifier against Scotland in Perth tomorrow after missing the trip to Russia for personal reasons.

The Russians won easily and have established a strong lead in the qualification group as Ireland battle it out with the Scots and Swiss to avoid relegation from the top level of the game.

Noel King has a strong squad for this weekend's game, though Carmel Kissane, Kate Taylor and Ronnie Gibbons miss out through injury.