Please note that the venue for Sunday’s match has been changed to Bishopstown. Kick-off is at 2 pm with coverage on LOITV.


You felt that the team could have played much better in the 4-0 win over Sligo last week but were you very happy with the scoreline nonetheless?

Yeah, I was happy with the scoreline. I’m one of those people who don’t concentrate too much on the end result, it’s more the process of how we get there is what I concentrate a lot on. The end result was good but there was room for improvement on the performance of it.

A brace from your skipper Áine sent us on our way first half, the first from long range and she says she meant it. Did it once again show her importance to the team?

I think I’ve said it in every interview, over and over again. She does not get the credit she deserves. She is a fantastic player and what she brings to the team both on and off the pitch can’t be underestimated. She has that quality and she did mean it. We were looking back on the video and you see her scan, have a quick look and she saw it was on and went for it.

Lia and Scarlett added the third and fourth goals. That’s a first goal for the club for Scarlett and there was also a clean sheet for Summer on her first league start. Were you pleased for those two?

It’s nice to see with the squad that we have, no matter what changes we make, week in and week out because we’re kind of working off a rotation system at the moment, it doesn’t matter who has the first 11 jerseys. There’s great strength in depth there and that breeds good competition for places. It leads to extra quality because everybody wants to be in that starting lineup, so I’m pleased for Summer. She’s had to be patient and wait for her chance to come along and she did well. And I’m pleased for Scarlett. She has continually grown since she’s been here and she’s a great threat going forward.

It’s Cork City in the Cup on Sunday and Rovers won 4-0 at the same venue only a couple of weeks ago. Do you expect Cork to approach the game any differently and try and make it tighter?

Probably, but we won’t concentrate too much on what Cork are trying to do. This year we’ve always worked to ‘control the controllable’ and that’s us and what we bring. Most of our focus will go into that and if Cork want to sit off in a low block and make it hard to break them down, or if they go at us, we’ll just have to be prepared for whichever way Cork try and set up.

It’s a chance to reach an FAI Cup semi-final. Is there a lot of hunger in the dressing room to make sure we get through and stay in the hunt for silverware this season?

Absolutely. It’s why every player in that dressing room comes into the club. To be in finals, trying to win leagues and medals and that’s the hunger that every single player in that dressing room has.

Which players won’t be available to travel on Sunday?

Amanda will still be out, we’ll find out today whether or not she’ll need surgery but other than her, we have a full squad to choose from.

Rovers will also be without Abbie Larkin after her transfer to Glasgow City. She made a big impact in Tallaght and at the World Cup so no doubt she’ll be missed by everyone at the club.

She’ll be badly missed. She did really well since she came in, she got better and better as each of the months went by and it gave her the extra confidence to go to the World Cup. She did well there and came back full of confidence and did really well. Her dream was always to play full-time football so it’s nice to see her being able to live her dream.