Kenny Shiels will raid his youth reserves for the trip to Sligo on Monday evening
With Rory Patterson away to Crusaders, the Candystripes’ boss continues to be without the injured Nicky Low and Conor McDermott while Ally Roy is cup-tied having already turned out for the bit-o’-red in an earlier round.
To make matters worse, the club was officially informed on Sunday afternoon that a further four players- Darren Cole, Eoin Toal, Gavin Peers and Jamie McDonough are suspended for the game, leaving Shiels with a huge selection headache.
“Our preparations have been impossible because we’ve been waiting to see who would be available,” he said.
“We’ll obviously have to bring in youth team players as cover because we don’t have too many options.”
Shiels admitted that Friday night’s defeat to the same opposition had been a low-point since taking over the reins at Brandywell, calling it “the worst performance we’ve put in in my time at the club.”
He will no doubt be looking for a lot more from his charges this time despite so many enforced changes.
If the manager is looking for positives he can of course point to the fact that City have a phenomenal record in this competition.
A win at Sligo would leave the visitors one game away from an unprecedented 11th league cup success
