Shamrock Rovers will look to maintain their defence of the FAI Cup as they take on Sligo Rovers at Tallaght Stadium, while Dundalk travel to Athlone in the other semi-final.
Shamrock Rovers v Sligo Rovers, Tallaght Stadium, Sunday, 29 November - kick-off 2pm
Shamrock Rovers are looking to make it a league and cup double in 2020 and they are one match away from the final of this year's Extra.ie FAI Cup as they welcome Sligo Rovers to Tallaght Stadium.
The Hoops secured the league title with plenty to spare and now take on one of the form sides in the country as they go head-to-head with Liam Buckley's Bit O'Red.
Sligo came back from the Covid break during the summer and promptly moved off the base of the table to end up in a very credible fourth place in the table.
Team News
Shamrock Rovers: According to Rovers manager Stephen Bradley, the Hoops have "a few knocks and we'll have to see how they settle down tomorrow morning but nothing too serious other than the ones who missed last week".
Sligo Rovers: Niall Morahan and Jesse Devers return from suspension. Ronan Murray and Johnny Dunleavy miss out through injury.
What they said
Stephen Bradley (Shamrock Rovers): "Chances to get to Cup finals don't come around so often and when you have it you’ve got to try and grab it. Plus the fact that it’s our Cup at this moment in time and we’re going to do everything possible to hold onto it. That starts today."
Liam Buckley (Sligo Rovers): "We've reflected back on our last game against Shamrock Rovers on what improvements we can make from it. We'll go with a plan to try to progress to the final. Playing Wednesday to Sunday is not absolutely ideal, we’d like a week of course, but it’s not an issue for us. It’s a semi-final, we go there with a plan in place to get the result. We’ll be as ready as we can be.
"We know Shamrock Rovers are best team in the league by a stretch. I’m sure they will cause us problems and we have to curtail what we can. We know the run they’ve been on but we don’t think they’re unbeatable."
Athlone Town v Dundalk, Athlone Town Stadium, Sunday, 29 November - kick-off 7:05pm
Dundalk are one win away from reaching their sixth FAI Cup final in a row as they travel to Athlone on Sunday evening.
The Lilywhites have won two and lost three Cup finals over the past five editions, including a penalty-shoot-out defeat to Shamrock Rovers in last season's decider.
Athlone are looking for a fairytale ending to a tough season in the First Division, where the midlands outfit finished joint last on points, just avoiding tenth place by virtue of goal-difference over Wexford.
.@CorkTOD Tony O'Donoghue looks ahead to Sunday's #FAICup semi-finals as Athlone Town host Dundalk and the Rovers, Shamrock and Sligo, face off in Tallaght. pic.twitter.com/09ol3ezLq5
— Soccer Republic (@SoccRepublic) November 27, 2020
Team News
Athlone Town: to come
Dundalk: Patrick Hoban is definitely out after a procedure on his ankle earlier this week, while Dane Massey returns to full fitness.
What they said
Dane Massey, Dundalk (speaking to Dundalkfc.com): "We did some video on them today. We'll give then respect. They’re in the semi-finals of the FAI Cup and they deserve to be there. They beat Shelbourne in the quarter-final and it’ll be a tough, competitive game.
"They’ve got a good Astro pitch which will only help us but if you go out thinking it’s going to be a handy game you’ll be out of the cup just as quick."
Watch live coverage of the Athlone Town v Dundalk FAI Cup semi-final on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player (Kick-off 7.05pm)
