Richardson remains upbeat

FAI Cup Semi-final/Cork City v Derry City, Turner's Cross, 7pm: The Cork City injury list, like the length of Derry City's unbeaten run of games, suggests Damien Richardson's side might find it difficult to ease past their opponents and into the final of the Carlsberg-sponsored FAI Cup at Turner's Cross tonight.

The southerners, though, have already overcome an obstacle or two this season in their efforts to stay in the hunt for the double and as he ponders their prospects the home team's boss dismisses the idea they have anything to fear, aside from fear itself.

Richardson is frank in his admiration for the handiwork of Stephen Kenny at Derry this year with the Dubliner, he observes, having brought "leadership and discipline" to a talented squad that previously possessed insufficient quantities of either.

When the visiting team's sequence of 25 matches without defeat is mentioned, however, Richardson acknowledges the scale of the achievement before swiftly adding the obvious: "But they're still second in the table."

Supporters of both teams could make a decent case for starting as match favourites this evening but the confidence among the locals would surely be a good deal stronger if there weren't injury problems with Neale Fenn, Joe Gamble (both ankle ligaments) and John O'Flynn (groin strain).

The former two look set to miss out while O'Flynn is rated as having a 50-50 chance of starting against the northerners. The striker is likely to be given every chance to prove his fitness before the kick-off not least because one of the possible replacements, Willie Bruton, is cup-tied, leaving the manager with few enough options up front.

Elsewhere, Cork City remain as strong as any club in the country this season. In midfield, where George O'Callaghan continues to exert huge influence, they have been particularly impressive while their defence is one of the few that could even hope to completely subdue a lively Derry attack.

"As I look at it I'd have to say that almost everything seems to point to the two sides producing goals and a wonderful contest," says Richardson. "Both Stephen and myself have the sort of quality players available to us that you would expect to shine on an occasion like this. There's always the possibility that fear would take hold and the game, like so many semi-finals, would end up being settled by a single goal but really I just can't see it happening. I think," he concludes, in what must amount to a major affront to fate, "that we're almost guaranteed a good game."

Of the two sides, Cork have made slightly harder work of getting to this stage of the competition. While Derry have beaten Shelbourne, Kildare County and Shamrock Rovers without serious difficulty, their opponents have required replays to get past Galway United and Finn Harps.

Having gotten here, however, Richardson is determined his side won't slip up. "I've been to five or six semi-finals with different teams and only lost once but it was a particularly painful experience. If you get to the final and miss out then I think as either a player or manager you at least feel you were a part of the occasion, you're had the big day. There's no consolation for missing out at the semi-final stage, though. Both sides will be desperately trying to avoid going out."

For the visitors the absence of Clive Delaney will be felt but as with his own problems in that department, Richardson is loath to attach too much importance to the finer points of the starting line-ups.

"When you're in the sort of position both ourselves and Derry are at the moment you just come to accept injuries and suspensions as part of the challenge. Both of us have good players who can come in and they'll view the game as an opportunity.

"That's the sort of positive attitude that is vital at this stage of the season and if we show that this evening then we have every chance of going through."