Finn Harps boss Ollie Horgan insists his side remain fully focused on their league campaign, despite having an FAI Cup tie against Dundalk on Friday night.
The Finn Harps boss asserted that the fixture was probably a ‘bridge too far’ for the Ballybofey outfit, but has urged Finn Harps to relish the chance to play against the Premier Division’s league leaders.
“We had fifteen choices in the draw, and if you consider ties can be home or away, you have thirty choices and we probably got the thirtieth choice out of it,” he said.
“So be it, there are easier ways of going out of the FAI Cup than going to Dundalk. It’s probably a bridge too far, but we’ll go and enjoy it.
“We have nothing to lose, bar getting a hiding, because, look, Dundalk can give teams hidings that are a lot better than us.
“(Our draw) was number thirty on the list without a doubt, but there is no expectation from within or outside the camp, really.
Horgan agreed that his squad have a free shot in such a difficult cup tie, but warned his team not to get too complacent against such top opposition.
“If we’re not at ourselves, if we don’t play well, then we’ll definitely get a hiding,” Horgan added. “If we play well and play to the best of our ability, we might make it a little bit harder for them, but realistically – we are not going to win any cup this season.
“Dundalk hasn’t been beaten at home all season, so it’s a one in twenty chance and we’ll see what happens because there is no point in building up peoples hopes.
“It’s a bridge too far for many a team, including us at this stage,” Horgan said.
Finn Harps manager, Ollie Horgan at a press conference in Letterkenny. (North West Newspix)
If there were any reasons for the Harps’ faithful to feel optimistic, then the Cobh Ramblers blueprint would have to be it, but Horgan was swift to squash any such comparisons.
“No, Cobh Ramblers are beaten three nil up at the Oriel,” he declared.
“The achievement is absolutely incredible (by Cobh Ramblers), knowing the two teams, I didn’t see it coming, but that was in Cobh.
“Had we got Dundalk at Finn Park it might have been different, and I’m not saying we would be Dundalk in Ballybofey, but at the Oriel we’ll be under pressure from the start and if they score early it could be a long night.
“They’ve beaten us 7-0 at Finn Park, so if we can avoid a heavy defeat and build on what we are trying to build, then we’ll bow out of the cup with a bit of confidence and look ahead to Galway next Friday – which is really a more important game for us,” he said.
Harps’ will be without several key players for the game tomorrow night, with Paddy McCourt and Adam Duffy out through injury, while Nathan Boyle and Ciaran O’Connor continue to struggle and remain a question mark.
That leaves the door open for Horgan to field some of the club’s young players, but the Harps’ boss remained unconvinced at the idea – holding the belief that this may not be the best time for the club’s young prodigies to be fielded in such a challenging game.
“It’s difficult because if we go with a very young side you’re guaranteed to be completely over-run.
“It’s not like we are playing a mid-table side in the Premier Division away from home. We’re playing the top team in the country and they could do serious damage to a young side, so we need to be careful in juggling this.”
Harps sought permission from several astro-turf facilities, with one of them believed to have been the Brandywell, in preparation for the FAI Cup clash, but Horgan remained coy and emphasised that Harps’ focus remained on the game on Friday week.
“We looked to train on an astro-turf but as of yet, we’ve trained on grass. We would’ve loved to have trained on an astro-turf, but we’ll be playing Galway on grass on Friday week and that’s kind of where our intentions are at the moment.”
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