Cork City may look home and hosed in the Airtricity League Premier Division title race, but their European ambitions have been rocked by a bad knee injury to captain John Dunleavy that has likely ended his season.
The 25-year-old Donegal man suffered the knock in Friday's 4-1 defeat of Limerick at Turner's Cross, though the Leesiders initially believed it wasn't serious.
Their worst fears have been realised however, with manager John Caulfield admitting the former Republic of Ireland U21 international is facing a lengthy spell out.
"The indications aren’t good, contrary to what we thought after the match," said Caulfield.
"Unfortunately, it doesn’t look good. It looks like he’s going to be out for quite a while, so we’re just waiting for confirmation on that, which is a terrible blow to Johnny. That’s the way it is."
Cork City travel to Levadia Tallinn in the first qualifying round of the Europa League on 29 June, with the return leg at Turner's Cross a week later.
They are 18 points clear of Dundalk at the top of the league table but with star striker Sean Maguire heading to Preston North End at the end of July, Dunleavy's injury is another hit to the squad.
Caulfield said he's trying to bring in reinforcements, but admits it could be a drawn-out process: "The fact that some of the dealings are taking longer than you would have hoped is probably a bit frustrating.
"Guys are hanging on maybe to see if they can get more elsewhere on better deals. They know they don;t have to commit until July anyway. I'm resigned to the fact that that's the way it's going to be."
