Waterford dismiss reports

National League: Waterford United director Martin Colbert has dismissed as groundless speculation various media reports about the managerial vacancy at the club in the wake of Alan Reynolds's departure.

He said no appointment is likely to be made until after the club's agm at the end of July.

Giles Cheevers, the first-team coach while Jimmy McGeough and Reynolds were in charge, will be in the dugout this evening for the visit of Shelbourne, as he was for the midweek League Cup game against Cobh Ramblers.

But Colbert said Cheevers had agreed to look after the team for the two games "reluctantly" and "as a favour" and there had been no decision as to how the club would proceed after the weekend.

"The fact is," he said, "that at the moment we don't even know whether there will be a club beyond the agm and we're certainly not sure whether Jim (Nolan) and myself will be here.

"So we're not in a position to go out there making long-term deals with people about the manager's job.

"If a new investor were to come on board then everything could change very quickly but at the moment the priority is to keep costs to a minimum and we're simply not in a position to talk to anybody, particularly the sort of big names that are being mentioned in the papers."

Cheevers - who "understood" as of yesterday afternoon that Reynolds would not be available to him as a player even though the club still holds his registration - hopes to have a squad of 16 for the game after hearing John Frost, Stephen Yelverton and Vinnie Sullivan expect to be available despite knocks this week.

"We're having to patch up a few bodies but we'll do our best," he said. "It's a very tough game to come at a time like this, though. This is Shelbourne and we'll respect them."

The game certainly looks like a chance for the Dubliners to get back to winning ways in the league after taking just two points from their last five outings. Pat Fenlon, however, remains cautious about his side's prospects, insisting clubs in difficulty can sometimes cause upsets.

"You don't know what you're going to get with players in this position," says the Shelbourne boss, who is still without Alan Moore and Jamie Harris.

"They'll have been stung by Alan going, and different teams can react to that sort of thing in difference ways."

At Turner's Cross, Cork City will seek to maintain their run of impressive form when they entertain Longford Town, who have themselves been playing well in recent weeks.

"Sometimes that's the time to get teams because the standard of the match is better and you go into it knowing that you will have to be at your best," says manager Damien Richardson.

"We've been doing well lately and it's been a great bit of work to get to the top of the table. The real job now, though, is to stay there."

Tonight'sFixtures

(7.45 unless stated)

Premier Division: Waterford Utd v Shelbourne (7.30), Cork City v Longford Town, St Patrick's Athletic v Drogheda Utd, Shamrock Rovers v Finn Harps, UCD v Bray Wanderers. First Division: Athlone Town v Kildare County (7.45).