Second Round
Finn Harps v Home Farm, Fingal (7.45)
Things may be starting to look up for Harps boss Gavin Dykes who yesterday revealed that two of the six players transfer listed last week, James Mulligan and Johny Kenny, had agreed changes to their contracts and would now be staying at the club. Eamon Sheridan, meanwhile, has gone to Omagh Town until the end of the season while Pascal Vaudequin and Mark Hutchison have been attracting interest from clubs on both sides of the Border.
Things would, of course, get dramatically worse again for the Donegal men if they were to lose this game but Dykes does at least have close to a full squad to choose from with only Kenny, still suffering from an ankle problem, facing the prospect of watching from the stand.
For Farm Kevin Brady is out with a groin strain, as is Chris Malone with a hamstring. Derek Gill and Gordan Johnson are suspended while Mark Mulraney is cup-tied.
Goalkeeper Paul Whelan is a doubt now too after landing badly on his elbow during training at the weekend and so Darren Wynn stands by.
Last five years. Harps: R1, QF, R1, SF, RU; Home Farm: R2, R2, R2, R2, R2.
Scheduled replay: Jan 18th (7.30).
Betting: Home: 1/3, Draw: 3/1, Away: 7/1.
Referee: P Whelan (Dublin).
Second Round Replays
St Patrick's Athletic v Galway Utd
The league champions will be without influential central defender Packie Lynch for this evening's replay with the former UCD player ruled out due to the concussion he suffered in Friday night's game.
Colin Hawkins is still doubtful after receiving stitches to a wound in his foot last week while Donal Broughan has a slight back problem. If both miss out then Barry Prenderville may slip into central defence alongside Stephen McGuinness.
United have everybody who played on Friday available again and manager Don O'Riordan insists that he will stick with Kieran Foley up front despite the relatively quiet night he had on Friday.
In fact, there are likely to be few, if any, changes with O'Riordan having the option of bringing in either Michael Keane or Adrian Cregg. This evening's game will provide a stern test for United but with two thirds of their league points so far coming away from home there is no shortage of confidence.
Betting: Home: 4/7, Draw: 12/5, Away: 9/ 2.
Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).
Waterford United v Longford Town
There will be some disappointment in the Longford camp that they have to do it all again after leading Waterford 2-0 on Saturday night. Only a bad deflection on a late free kick earned United a replay.
The visitors fared better on the injury front for the first game than had been expected with Paul Perth insisting on playing despite a broken toe and Stephen O'Brien managing to shake off a back problem sufficiently to start. This time manager Stephen Kenny will have Perth's brother Vinny back from suspension and he will have to decide whether to put him straight back into the midfield.
Waterford will be without John Frost again but David Whittle's surprise appearance on Saturday - he had picked up a knock in the previous week's game at Shelbourne - went off without any hitches so he should start again while Mike Flanagan is optimistic that Sean Riordan and/or Tim McGrath will return from injury. If they do, they'll start.
Otherwise it'll be much the same for United with Flanagan declaring himself to have been pleased with the determination shown at the weekend. The defending, he admits, however, will have to be tighter against a Longford side whose game is built very much around their commitment to getting forward.
Betting: Home: 4/5, Draw: 9/4, Away: 3/1.
Referee: J Stacey (Athlone).
