Domestic news: Former Shamrock Rovers and Longford Town striker Dave Mooney looks set to sign for Birmingham City over the weekend after doing well while on trial with the St Andrews club over the past few days.

Mooney, who finished the season as the league's top scorer and played a key role in getting Longford to the cup final, is a free agent and the 23-year-old has turned down a number of other offers from clubs in Britain and Ireland.

Damien Richardson, meanwhile, is expected to go to court next week in order to obtain an injunction preventing Cork City hiring a new manager while he is still at the club.

The move has been prompted by the news that the club had approached Alan Mathews about taking over.

Richardson has been anxious to resolve his future in Cork since their FAI Cup final victory over Longford, after which he publicly appealed for talks with the board. It appears, however, that there has been no progress on the situation and Richardson apparently believes he has no option but to take legal action.

In approaching Mathews, the City board have made it clear that they want to bring in a new manager and, while club chairman Aidan Tynan suggested prior to the cup final that he envisaged Richardson having a role at the club, he doesn't appear to have indicated what that might be.

At the time, Richardson made it clear that he respected the club's right to replace him if they so desired but money would seem to be a significant issue for the former Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne boss, who clearly believes he is entitled to be compensated if he is let go.

A two-year deal was agreed between Tynan and Richardson at the end of the summer but never signed. The club's intentions are far from clear but it would appear that the aim is to provoke Richardson's resignation. As of yesterday, all the signs were that Richardson is determined to resist the temptation.

After initial talks Derry City board members are reported to have lined up a meeting with Stephen Kenny early next week when they hope to persuade him to return to the Brandywell.

Kenny returned to Scotland last night and will consider a number of options over the weekend. New Derry chairman Pat McDaid is believed to be keen on securing his return to the club he left for Scotland 12 months ago.

Don Howe, meanwhile, said last night that when he expressed the hope in a newspaper article that Fabio Capello would make Terry Venables assistant England manager, he was merely using the Londoner as an example of the type of person who should be hired to provide the Italian with local knowledge.

"I didn't write the article myself and I was just trying to use Terry Venables as an example of the type of person he should bring in," said the veteran coach, who is a member of the FAI's three-strong recruitment panel which is likely to have to consider Venables's application for the Republic of Ireland job.