Coolera/Strandhill are hoping to keep form going
with Mark McCallion carrying an injury, with hopes for Keelan Cawley and Karl O’Neill to return.
“Hopefully they will be back. Everyone else is fine.
“We haven’t played Harps recently as they are Division 1 but they are such a good side with a lot of experience with the likes of Tony (Taylor), Ross (Donovan), they are a good team.”
Coolera/Strandhill were down a number of players who were in the US in recent years, the majority of which have returned.
“We have a good few of them back, Barry O’Mahoney and Gary Cadden for example. It’s good to have them back when you’re struggling for numbers.
“It’s great for us to be in the quarter final and we see what happens on Sunday,” John added.
Throw in is 4pm. COOLANEY/MULLINABREENA boss Anthony Brennan says preparations are going well ahead of Saturday’s meeting with St Mary’s in the quarter final.
“It’s going well enough. We had a good enough run in the group, similar enough to last year where we had a good run in the League and group stages.
“Obviously the last game against Tourlestrane was a bit of a dead rubber but it doesn’t really matter now we are in the knock-out.
“We played reasonably well in the first half of that game but didn’t play in the second half with the wind.
“Tourlestrane are always a hard team to play with their style of play but that result is immaterial going forward,” the manager said.
There are injury worries ahead of the quarter final with Criostóir Davey being substituted at halftime in the Tourlestrane match with a knee injury and Anthony Walsh is also injured.
“It is touch and go whether they will be back. Other than that, we have everyone strong.
“We played St Mary’s in the League and we beat them. Obviously they have a lot of talent on their team. They are probably one of the favourites to win it out.
“In saying that, we’ve gained a lot of experience from last year.
“Last year we were in with a good chance against Tourlestrane in a game we should have won.
“We learned a lot from that. “You learn more from losing than winning. Come Saturday, it’s about putting in the performance on the day,” Anthony said.