Tim Clancy eyes derby spark to reignite Cork City's season amid League of Ireland survival scrap
CORK CITY boss Tim Clancy does not mind the gap as he reckons winning the inter-city derby can put the Rebels on the right track.
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Cork City manager Tim Clancy insists there's no panic at Turner's Cross despite the widening gap to safety
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Sean Maguire is set to return for Cork City for the first time in eleven games
But with 22 games to go and City's own form being okay - they have a win and two draws in the last five with both defeats being when they fell to late goals - means that is his focus.
Clancy said: 'There is very little in it. There can be a gap but the reality is we need to get results.
'There is obviously a gap that we want to close before it gets bigger. But we can't be worrying about what everyone else is doing.
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'If someone else is winning games, it means someone is losing games as well. We just have to concentrate on ourselves.
'In the period of Waterford's three wins, we conceded in the 96
th
penalty against Drogheda and 90
th
against Sligo.
'There's three points we shouldn't have. That's the frustrating side for us. We haven't defended late in games.'
And he pointed to Alan Reynolds' Bohemians - who have won four of their last five - as proof of how a team can go on a role and change their entire outlook.
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He added: 'You look at Rennie at Bohs, he's had a brilliant (few results).
'I know they were beaten by Waterford, but if you look at the last four games they have won I think the earliest winner was against us in the 87th minute.
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'They have had two 96th winners and a 97th minute winner in the last 14 days, and it's put them in a position where they back talking about challenging at the top.
'Before the game against us there might have been a lot of talk elsewhere about Bohs.
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'It's that type of season, where if teams get those winners and back-to-back wins it can catapult them right up the table.
'There is just one game this season we have walked off the pitch and felt we were inferior to the opposition, Shamrock Rovers in Tallaght, and I have to take a lot of the heat for that.
'I thought we were probably a bit naive in how we wanted to press them and being too adventurous in getting the ball back.'
MAGUIRE RETURN
And Clancy - who hopes to have
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He said: 'I think the Friday/Monday is killing us at the minute. Drogheda made six changes to their starting 11 and we didn't.
'We are not in that position at the minute, we don't physically have the bodies to do that.
'We have a lot of talented young players at the club but if they are not ready to be thrown into Premier Division football from the start it can do them more damage than good.
'Experience is good to get, but if it's all negative experience at that age it is not good. The Friday-Monday's have sort of killed us a little bit, the squad hasn't been there.
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'But look, we're getting bodies back now and it will help us in the coming weeks.'
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