There will be a red-hot atmosphere in the Showgrounds tonight, as Sligo Rovers and Shamrock Rovers take the field in a must-win game for under-fire managers Gerard Lyttle and Stephen Bradley.
Following last night’s shock win for Limerick over Waterford, Sligo are now in the relegation play-off spot. Three straight league defeats, coupled with six home league defeats, and supporters are turning on the former Cliftonville boss.
After last season’s struggles, when Lyttle came to the club to replace Dave Robertson mid-season, it was expected that Sligo would be challenging for at least a European spot, however that hasn’t been the case. Some poor recruitment, plus issues with players have see Sligo struggle badly. Defeat tonight, in another home game, would surely spell the end of his reign.
Lyttle said ahead of the massive game, “Shamrock Rovers is a fixture that always brings a lot of interest and we simply have to build again.”
“We’ve come off a tough week and a lot of games but we have to approach this game with passion, energy, desire and give absolutely everything to get the result.”
Again he’s calling on the fans to come out in force as he and the players look for that big performance, “We want our fans get behind us as they do and lift the lads and encourage them. Things haven’t gone our way, there have been setbacks and then players out with injury and we just have to go again and put it right.”
Lyttle also knows there’s pressure on his opposite number, “Shamrock Rovers have been a bit up and down like ourselves. They are a better team than their position shows and they’ll be really keen to improve on the away record because if they sort that out it could be a very different prospect for them.”
“We want to change our home form and it’s a big challenge for us, so we’ll ask the players to go out and show the desire they have for the club and try to take the opportunities. We believe in them that they can do so and that we can get the three points.”
Sligo will be without Raffaele Cretaro and Patrick McClean while David Cawley (hamstring) is rated as doubtful. Michael Schlingermann is out with a neck injury.
Regan Donelon, Eduardo Pincelli and Seamus Sharkey are available after injuries.
For Shamrock Rovers, Graham Burke is available. Joey O’Brien is suspended and Kevin Horgan and Sean Boyd are still out.
As for Stephen Bradley, his side are inconsistent this season. Defeats to Dundalk, Bohemians and Bray Wanderers in the space of ten days was followed by draws with Limerick and Derry. They then shocked Champions Cork City by winning 3-0, however they haven’t won since.
For a team with ambitions to challenger honours this season, they currently sit 6th just seven points of the relegation spots and eleven points off a European place. They talk about a project at Rovers, but that project needs a successful Premier Division side along with the funds a European run generates.
Bradley said ahead of the trip to the West, “Sligo is a tough place to go. They’ll be up for it and get a good crowd. I watched them against St Pat’s during the week and they should have at least been level going into the last 10 or 15 minutes. We know they’ll be dangerous going forward. Hopefully we can go and play our game and cause them problems. Our performances away from home hasn’t been the problem in a lot of them, in one or two it has, but we’ve just given away soft goals.”
“We need to tidy up that end and we’ll be fine. Ronan Finn has been struggling with his ribs for four or five weeks to be fair to him, it’s just one of them where he’s getting through games at the moment.”
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