Gearóid Morrissey says City are going in the right direction

Cork City captain Gearóid Morrissey believes they're going in the right direction after picking up just their third win of the season.

A 2-0 win away to Athlone Town on Friday night saw City up to 8th in the table, 6 points off the play off spots.

And after enduring a tricky start to the season, Morrissey is hopeful they can build on last week's win.

"It was badly needed, for everybody. For the gaffer, the players, and all the fans and supporters - we all needed it.

"It was a good performance by us, we really put in a shift, every man was working for each other, it was a collective team performance and there were no individuals out there. We got our reward for it.

"To be fair to the gaffer, he's been working hard with us since he's come in. But it's been difficult for some fellas, it's a big learning curve, getting to grips with the physicality in the first division and all the rest of it. 

"That all comes with experience, there's only so much you can do on the training pitch to instil that in players, it's more you have to go out there and experience the games.

"We've lads now who are racking up appearances and they're getting more experienced and I think that really showed against Athlone, Colin worked with us all week on team shape and what we were going to do. But it was more back to basics - it's all about working hard and as long as you're willing to do that and put in a shift and give everything for the shirt, you're always in with a shout."

Next up is a trip to Shelbourne, who are eight points clear at the top of the table and are unbeaten so far this season. It's a challenge Morrissey is relishing.

"They've put a good run together. But at the end of the day every team in this division is capable of beating each other. You see teams who could be winning 3, 4 in a row and all of a sudden you might think that a team they're coming up against the following week might be a lesser team and they should roll them over - and the "lesser team" beats them.

"It's just the way it is in this league. You can't really call it too much - it can be unpredictable. Why can't we be the ones to put it up to them and get the three points?"

You can listen to the interview in full here: