Back in the old routine

GEAROID MORRISSEY believes Cork City have regained their form at just the right time – having lost it at precisely the wrong one.

A September meltdown after successive league defeats to Sligo Rovers, Bohemians and Dundalk meant they were out of the title running.

And they saw the Lilywhites gallop free to pinch their crown and set up the prospect of a second double in four seasons in Sunday’s FAI Cup final.

But since that home league defeat to Dundalk in September, the Rebels have gone six games unbeaten.

They have won their last four games in all competitions, scoring 13 goals and conceding two.

Morrissey said: “You just roll with that and shrug off the disappointments – that’s what being a professional is.

“The last three performances have been excellent, we’ve been scoring goals, defending properly and we’ve been playing good football.”

Rumours of trouble in the camp during their costly blip were flatly denied by Caulfield and some players at the time.

But assessing what went wrong, Morrissey pointed to punishing lessons learned in the European clashes with Legia Warsaw and Rosenborg.

“Confidence is absolutely massive in sport,” he said. “We lost a lot of it coming out of Europe for whatever reason and it’s tough to get it back.

“You lose that mental sharpness when you’re not confident. Things become hard work. When you’re confident, it just happens and we have picked it up in the last few weeks.”

The midfielder expects to shake off a persistent groin injury to face Dundalk.