Alan Mahon out for a month...

[Poor Student]

"UCD V SHAMROCK ROVERS
UCD have been dealt a double blow with
news that defender Alan Mahon is out
for up to a month following knee
surgery.

And midfielder Anto Murphy may also
need an operation on a groin problem.
Youngster Brian Gannon and Conor Sammon
are with the eircom Under-21 squad.

Rovers have injury problems of their
own with Steven Gough (knee) and Paul
Caffrey (groin) out while Cathal
O'Connor is suspended.

Russell Payne could return in goal
while Michael Wolski may come back too."

That's from aertel. Ah crap. Since when did he injure his knee? I guess it is Aido at right back again tonight and McWalter on the right, Dupuy on the left and Byrne and Martin up front.

[Schumi]

$hite, our squad is a bit thin to say the least. Anto Murphy is a big loss, we missed him in Longford.

At least there's one possible upside:

Russell Payne could return in goal :D

[Poor Student]

$hite, our squad is a bit thin to say the least. Anto Murphy is a big loss, we missed him in Longford.

At least there's one possible upside:
:D

I was at Pats v Rovers when he dropped the ball into the net. Unbelievable. I am worried about Pat McCourt tonight. He seems to have a sort of a free role. Can drift across from right to the middle or even to the left. I reckon he'll give Aido and Micko a torried time if he gets going. He can drift out of the play for long periods but really has the ability to open you up in a moment. He could just drift past three players suddenly. I'd be tempted to play Martin on the left and Byrne up front with Pat in a sort of a free drifting role between wide right and centre forward with Hurley and Tony Mac to protect the defence and Damo to link up between midfield and front and hit them on the break with pacey counters.

[Schumi]

I've seen Rovers three times this season already for some reason (they seem to be the only team playing in Dublin when we don't have a match) and they've all been $hite! Payne was very dodgy against Longford; dropping balls and not catching shots. If we take shots on him and close him down, there's a good chance of him giving us a goal.

McCourt looks good and they had a good right winger against Waterford last week, Bernard something (he had Benni on his shirt!), very good on the ball and good pace but tended to hold onto it a bit too much. Still dangerous looking though. The rest didn't look up to much, the centre forward especially, think his name was Mooney.

[pineapple stu]

I reckon he'll give Aido and Micko a torried time if he gets going.
That's the bit I'm most worried about - him against a centre-back and left-mid. Still, our defence has been fairly solid, so hopefully we can limit the damage. He got a hat-trick against Bray, but they ahve the worst defence in the league. (Not going to mention the Derry game as that kind of ruins my point!)

[pineapple stu]

If we take shots on him and close him down, there's a good chance of him giving us a goal.
We don't even need to close him down - remember the Cup game against Derry when he dropped Alan Mahon's cross?! That said, his parry from Greg O'Dowd for Ted O'Connor's goal (there's some names for you!) showed that closing him down works too! :p

[Poor Student]

Actually yeah, they are a threat down both wings to us. They were well organised against Pats but rather blunt in attack. Sounds like us to be honest. It could play out to a 0-0. This is a must not lose game or suddenly our bright starting season will have turned into a relegation battle.

[Schumi]

My point is that his inability to hold onto the ball will give us chances if there's someone there waiting for him to drop it. If he decides to give us an own goal as well that'll be a bonus!

[Poor Student]

My point is that his inability to hold onto the ball will give us chances if there's someone there waiting for him to drop it. If he decides to give us an own goal as well that'll be a bonus!

Certainly if we have any corners or free kicks someone should stand in front of him to block and harry him being clever enough not to foul.

By the way how is Robbie Mac these days?

[pineapple stu]

By the way how is Robbie Mac these days?
No idea. I heard (from CollegeTillIDie who heard from Robbie Mac) that he was going to be back in the team a few games into the season. Then I heard he was back in training. He was at the pre-season games walking around - no crutches or limps or anything - so I don't know where he's at at this stage. All very confusing. Must ask tonight actually.

[Colie]

Payne wasn't the may west on more thann just the one he pushed into the net. I reckon if Tony Mac plays the midfield holding role he could have McCourt. Hopefully the quality comes thru like it did against Darryl Murphy & McCourt gets subbed. Hope for a big croud tonight.

[Poor Student]

Actually yeah, they are a threat down both wings to us. They were well organised against Pats but rather blunt in attack. Sounds like us to be honest. It could play out to a 0-0.

Hmph, I was right.

[pineapple stu]

Rob McAuley has a cartilage knee problem; they're going to give it another two weeks to see if it heals, or else it'll need surgery.

Aidan Lynch coming off injured today hasn't helped at all...Brian Gannon wil probably be in for Shels (there wasn't a diagnosis on Lynch yet).

Anto Murphy may also need surgery on his groin problem. This is probably one of our bigger concerns as he's been about the only player who can take opposition players on, beat them and set something up... :(

[Poor Student]

That's desperate news Stu. Though true to this season's form (or lack of!) we'll go out and beat Shels next week. ;)