Sligo's cup brimful

Shamrock Rover's return to Tolka a few weeks back may have deprived him of the chance to pull off another FAI Cup shock at Richmond Park, but as he put his young Sligo Rovers squad through their paces yesterday before they headed for Dublin, Don O'Riordan was still relishing the possibility of another night to remember in the capital.

At Galway he twice guided his side to cup wins over St Patrick's Athletic, but then United were somewhat further down the line in terms of their development.

"We're long shots, there's no point in arguing about that," he says, "but we're not going down there to make up the numbers, that's for sure.

"You only have to look at the quality of the players in the Shamrock Rovers side, and the experience they have, to realise that they should beat us 99 times out of 100, but we'll enjoy it for what it is, a reward for all of this season's hard work. And if they don't play the way they can, then who knows?"

O'Riordan's role at the Showgrounds involves a little bit of everything, from community relations to commercial development and, he insists, he enjoys every minute of it.

Youth development is a priority - it has to be - and he is proud of the fact that nine of the club's under-18s have played at senior level this year. "The club's got an enormous amount of potential on every front and we're only beginning to tap into that," he says.

"On the financial side, I've seen the goodwill out there towards the club and, now that the team is young and local, even the fans who would have been amongst the most critical in the past appreciate that these are kids giving their all for the shirt, whether they win or not."

The local nature of the side has certainly been a help at the gate, with attendances starting to rise again this season after a long and painful decline. Improved takings, says O'Riordan, might enable him to buy the "one or two" players he feels are required in the longer term and the hope is that, with time, this group of players can be good enough to win promotion and consolidate the club's future in the top flight.

It's ambitious stuff, but at Tolka this evening O'Riordan is hoping to give people a taste of what to expect from the Sligo side he is fashioning for the future.