INSTITUTE: Trio are doubtful for Irish Cup derby clash

Deery wants a good cup run but he knows this weekend’s encounter at the Riverside Stadium is a potential banana skin.

“At the end of the day it’s a derby game and because of that I know it’s going to be tough,” he said.

“I will be drumming it into my players all week that they’ll need to be up for it right from the off, because like every cup competition there are shocks and I don’t want us to be ‘that side’.

“I have got some info on Newtowne and they are doing well this season, they have only lost three times this season, so they’ll be coming to Drumahoe confident of causing an upset, so we need to be ready for that from the first whistle.”

The Irish Cup tie is the first of three games at home and the Stute gaffer wants to make it three wins in a row.

“Yes we were disappointed that Saturday’s game against Lisburn Distillery was called off, because all the boys wanted to try and make it back to back league wins, but we got on with it and had a training session, so we just kept ticking over,” he said.

“We have three games in a row at home in December and then we have a cup final against Limavady United on Boxing Day, so we have a big month coming up, starting with Newtowne.

“Like the League Cup, I want to have a good Irish Cup run and although we aren’t looking too far ahead if we can get past Newtowne I would like another home tie against a side who we would fancy our chances against.

“Yes I know all the big sides like Cliftonville, Linfield, Crusaders and Coleraine come into the cup in the next round, but if we manage to get past Newtowne I would prefer not to meet one of the big boys until later on in the competition.

“But as I keep saying myself, the coaching staff and the players will only be focused at trying to get a job done against Newtowne and trying to make sure that we are in the hat for the next round.”

Deery may have a few men missing for the tie with skipper Graham Crown struggling with a knee problem, while both Garbhan Friel and Stephen O’Donnell may have family and work commitments respectively.

“We had a good training session on Saturday and unfortunately for the first time this season Crowner felt his knee sore, so we’ll have to wait and see how he is,” he added.

“At the minute both Garbhan and Stephen might not be able to make it because of commitments, but we’ll know later on in the week if they are available.”