Shane Griffin admits Cork City are fighting to save their season tonight.
After a dire campaign that saw them part company with John Caulfield and struggle to ignite ever since, the Rebels are in freefall.
Third from bottom of the Premier Division, they are in danger of being reeled in by Finn Harps for the playoff berth but have crucial games in hand.
Yet while they showed signs of resurgence away to Progres Neiderkorn in the Europa League and then against Shamrock Rovers, they lost at home to St Pat’s last week.
And tonight they face a tricky FAI Cup assignment away to Cabinteely who have surprised everyone bar Pat Devlin and his staff in the First Division this season.
Rebels defender Griffin, 24, has endured an injury disrupted season but is back vying for starts.
And going into a potentially season-defining game, he admits that defeat does not bear thinking about.
City were FAI Cup winners in 2016 and 2017 and have contested the final for the last four years running - all of them against Dundalk.
Griffin said: “It would be a huge blow to go out, because we want to give the fans something to look forward to.
“We have done well in this competition and we want to carry that on. Cabinteely have been doing quite well this year and are in and around the playoffs.
“They’re fit and physical and it’ll be a tough game. They’ll probably see it the same way we do - that it’s a chance to get into the next round.
“It’s a free hit for them and they probably fancy themselves. We’re just disappointed with last week against St Pat’s as the performance wasn’t good enough.”
Griffin added: “We had the weekend to dwell on it and we’ve pointed out stuff this week that was way below the standards we expect.
“We can have no excuses because we know how good we can be. This is a chance of silverware and we want to win it and finish the season on a high.”
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