Previews

Finn Harps V Shelbourne

Both teams have injury problems, with the locals waiting to check on the fitness of Shane Bradley, James Mulligan, Pascal Vaudequin, Davie Dowling and Jonathan Speak, while the visitors expect to be without Liam Kelly and Dave Campbell.

Charlie McGeever expects everybody to be in with a shot of starting, but only a couple of those returning from problems will get the chance to for fear of problems emerging in such an important game. He expects to be at least as well off as last week in Dundalk, after which any extra options will be considered Damien Richardson, meanwhile, is likely to push Dessie Baker up into attack again in place of Kelly with Tony Sheridan starting wide on the right, while Dean Fitzgerald is the obvious candidate to fill in for Campbell if a groin strain keeps the midfielder out of the starting line up.

Leading scorers in cup: Harps: Mulligan (two); Shelbourne: Kelly, S Geoghegan and Rutherford (three apiece).

Route to semi-finals: Harps: First round: Beat Bray 2-0 at home; Second round: Beat Galway 3-1 at home in replay; Quarter-finals: Beat UCD 1-0 at Belfield. Shelbourne: Beat Limerick 4-1 at home; Second round: Beat Dundalk 2-0 at home in replay; Quarter-finals: Beat St Patrick's 5-3 on penalties at home after two replays.

Betting: Home: 15 to 8, Draw: 2 to 1, Away: 5 to 4.

Referee: J Feighery (Dublin).

Athlone Town V Cork City

Fergus O'donoghue and Johnny Glynn are the main concerns for Dave Barry as his team make their first away journey of this year's cup while having to cope with the burden of being favourites.

The main question facing Barry appears to be who to play up front. Goals have been hard to come by for the southerners who have bagged just five, including two own goals, to get this far. Glynn had scored on his first couple of starts for the club, while Colin O'Brien was the top scorer until he went down with a cruciate ligament tear in the game against St Patrick's. John Cotter and Noel Hartigan seem the likely starters.

Athlone have everybody who isn't out long-term available. That, says Liam Buckley, will mean a few disappointed players, as "some of the lads who have come in over the last few weeks to cover injuries have done very well."

Leading scorers in cup: Athlone: Carberry (two); Cork: Coughlan, Freyne and Flanagan (one apiece).

Route to semi-finals: Athlone: First round: Beat College Corinthians 3-0 at home; Second round: Beat Shamrock Rovers 2-1 at home; Quarter-finals: Beat Longford 2-1 away in replay. Cork: beat Bohemians 1-0 away; Second round: Beat Derry 1-0 away in replay; Quarter-finals: Beat Sligo 2-0 at home.

Betting: Home: 7 to 2, Draw: 9 to 4, Away: 8 to 11.

Referee: H Byrne (Dublin).