Mccarthy worries mounting
PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE
DUNDALK boss Vinny Perth knows the champions are going from one extreme to the other - but insists they can cope.
The Lilywhites were on the wrong side of Friday’s pulsating top-two clash with Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght.
They led 2-1 in the second-half in front of a record 7,522 crowd for the stadium but got turned over. This Friday, they will look to get back to winning ways away to Finn Harps at one of the smallest and oldest grounds in the League of Ireland top flight.
Perth said: “That’s the difference in the league and it’s going to be a difficult venue. We have to bounce back, but we’ve always been good at that.
“When we went 2-1 up against Rovers it was very unlike us to go and lose the game. It was uncharacteristic of us to concede from a corner but we have to take it on the chin.
“Ultimately these games are decided on fine margins and the winning goal from Jack Byrne was a bit of quality and sometimes you have to hold your hands up.
“Leagues are decided over a lot of games, big moments. Friday night just went against us.” in a race against time to recover from a medial knee ligament issue, while Ciaran Clark (below) has been ruled out for the season with ankle damage.
There was also the worrying sight of the injury-prone James Mccarthy going off at halftime of Crystal Palace’s 1-0 win over Brighton on Saturday.
Mccarthy’s has become a regular for the Eagles in recent weeks and was pushing to be involved in Slovakia.
Palace boss Roy Hodgson said: “He [Mccarthy] was feeling his hamstring. “He was tempted I think to go and give it another five or 10 minutes to see how it goes but the doc, Zaf, Ray [Lewington] and myself made a decision between us that it wasn’t worth taking that chance.”
Ireland at least would have a ready-made replacement for Coleman at right-back in the shape of Matt Doherty.
The Dubliner continued his fine form with a goal and set up another in Wolves’ 3-2 victory over Tottenham in London yesterday.
It was a match that also saw Troy Parrott have a late cameo off the bench for Spurs.
But Spurs boss Jose Mourinho was quick to dampen the chances of the 18-year-old having more first-team opportunities this term.
Mourinho said: “He is not ready. He is a good kid we want to help, not only on the pitch but off it.
“He is a kid who’s going to have a real opportunity but when we decide it is right.
“He was on the bench because [Erik] Lamela said he was not ready to go on it.
“He was on the bench so, for the last five minutes, we brought him on to give some more space for Dele [Alli].”