Down to the players as Rovers fight for survival

Promotion/Relegation play-off First leg/Shamrock Rvs v Dublin City:  Having only met the current Shamrock Rovers players for the first time an hour and a half before Friday's 2-2 draw against UCD, Alan O'Neill admits he can hope to do little more than help them to help themselves as they battle Dublin City for Premier Division survival over the coming three days.

The two sides face each other for the first of their two play-off games this evening at Dalymount Park where O'Neill will again be standing in for the suspended Roddy Collins but the club's former goalkeeper and coach admits that his arrival comes far too late to have any dramatic impact on the team's chances of survival.

"The truth here is that my input is extremely limited," he says. "In very difficult circumstances the lads have asked me to come in as an advisor and I've done that but the fact remains that it is up to the players to turn things around and all I can do is try to help maximize the chances of them doing that.

"Some of what I saw at Belfield was exceedingly good as well, though. The lads showed commitment and no little skill and they broke the losing sequence the club had been on (they had lost their previous five league games) which was important.

"A couple of performances like that with maybe a little luck thrown in and I feel we'd be all right but it's down to the players. After a difficult season, they have to rise to the occasion."

O'Neill adds four players - Trevor Molloy, Derek Tracey, Mark Rutherford and Gavin McDonnell - to the squad from the weekend while Dermot Keely, who admits to feeling considerable sadness at his former club's plight brings back Ben Whelehan and Alan Mulcahy.

"This all would have been a circus, but Roddy is now out of the equation," said Keely, who has repeatedly clashed with Collins in recent years.

"Still, I was part of the greatest team in Rovers' history and I'd very much prefer if we were playing somebody else."

Finn Harps, meanwhile, have confirmed that Anthony Gorman will be in charge of the club's first team as it tries to win promotion back to the Premier Division next year while Galway United have given their manager, Stephen Lally, a new contract to cover next season.