However, Monday’s defeat cost Bohemians not only potential points, but also injuries to two midfielders, Robbie Creevy (knee) and Eoin Wearen (head). Their injuries unsettled Bohemians’ approach to Monday’s game and both will be out for Friday. So too will recent recruit Jake Kelly, who is cup-tied.

Long paid tribute to the Bray players for battling hard through two changes of management. Bray have won six of their eight league games since the summer break, gaining nine points on Bohemians. However, it would take extraordinary circumstances to change Bohs’ league position as there are still 11 points separating them in fifth place from Bray in sixth.

“You’ve got to give the Bray players huge credit. They work extremely hard and we won’t take them lightly. We didn’t do soon Monday. I wasn’t surprised at Bray’s performance, but I was disappointed with our own.

“I would expect our players to give a good account of themselves because they know how important this game is to us as a group and to the club in general.

“The players will need no extra motivation and that’s going to be a big factor on Friday. I feel it will come down to which team that shows greater desire and I hope that will be us.”

Karl Moore missed the last league game through sickness, but he returns for Friday. Derek Prendergast, Anto Murphy and Keith Buckley, who were rested on Monday, are also available. Derek Pender, Marc Griffin and Dan Byrne remain out with long-term injuries.

Bohemians and Bray have already met four times this season, as they did in 2014 and 2013. In these 12 matches in three competitions, Bohemians have won eight. Bray’s last win in Dalymount Park was in October 2013.

“The players recognise where we have to improve. We’ve got to get back to being difficult to beat. The last couple of games we’ve been very open to play against, and that’s something we’ll try to solve.”

Long had always anticipated there would be “low moments as well as high moments” and he is looking to “hard work” and “a strong performance” from the players to secure a win on Friday and ensure more high moments.

The Bohemian manager saluted the fans who continue to “believe in the honesty of this group”, and particularly those who made the journeys to Cork and Limerick.

“We didn’t give them value for money and we’ve got to build back that trust with them on Friday night. We’ve got to make sure we leave nothing on the pitch.”

Long insisted that Bohemians still have a lot to play for in the league despite their position between the groups above and below them, with a six-point margin on one side and nine-point gap on the other.

“We’ve got to win every match we possibly can. We owe that to the supporters, to the club and to ourselves,” he said. “The club is moving forward on and off the pitch and we’re not going to carry anyone who doesn’t buy into what we’re trying to do.”

Bohs’ 4-3 defeat in Limerick last weekend had a strange echo of a result last May against Friday’s opponents, Galway United.

Having started the league campaign conceding only seven goals in 12 games, Bohemians scored three but let in five in Galway.

That night, Derek Pender was missing and, last Friday, he and Lorcan Fitzgerald were both out. “We’re making no excuses but we have really missed our full-backs. These are two of the best full-backs in the country,” said Long.

He has had to shuffle his back line repeatedly due to Pender’s absence since June, then Anto Murphy’s injury and his later suspension and, more recently, Fitzgerald’s hamstring injury.
For this Friday, Fitzgerald returns, as does Eoin Wearen, who was out last weekend with an ankle injury from the Cork game two weeks ago.

Goalkeeper Lee Steacy returns to the squad having missed last weekend due to a training injury on his hand.

“It confirmed what we knew already: individually and collectively, we have to be right on top of our game to get results.”

With a depleted squad going to Cork, Long put Jake Kelly into the line-up just over 24 hours after the 25-year-old forward completed his signing from Dundalk.

The manager knew what he could expect of his recruit, having worked with him at Bray, and entrusted him with corners and free-kicks despite Kelly not having trained with the squad.

One of Kelly’s efforts on goal, early in the second half, hit the cross-bar. “If that had gone in, the dynamic of the game changes, and we are back in it. But overall we have no complaints. We got what we deserved from the game, which was nothing,” said Long.

“Jake’s got good quality and he’ll benefit from those 80 minutes. He hasn’t played from the start too often this season. When he integrates with the group fully and gets up to match fitness, you’ll see what he can contribute.”

Twenty-eight points behind Bohemians in the league table, Limerick will battle for anything they can get from the game. “Martin [Russell] has made changes and brought in new faces and, with the win over Sligo, the mood in their camp has got to be good. We’re wary of the threat that Limerick pose,” said Long.

Bohemians began the present campaign in March with a 3-0 win at Limerick’s temporary home, Jackman Park, but two months later needed a late goal from Jason Byrne to clinch a 2-1 win over Limerick at Dalymount.

For Saturday, Anto Murphy and Paddy Kavanagh make a “welcome” return to the squad following suspension. Lorcan Fitzgerald’s recovery from hamstring injury has been slower than anticipated and he is likely to miss this game. Derek Pender, Dan Byrne and Marc Griffin are out for the longer term.

Despite the flurry of first-half goals and eventual 4-2 victory over Derry last weekend, Long expects more of his players.

“It was a chance to put a team to the sword, which we haven’t done. Derry were frail at the back and we exposed them ruthlessly in a 10-minute spell, but we went out of the game for long periods.

“It was a chance to improve our goal difference and we didn’t capitalise on that. But ultimately we are judged on the three points. It was a win and we can’t be too disappointed.”

Long was pleased with the success, yet again, of a Bohemians set-piece, which led to the first goal, and with how his team dealt with the loss of Ismahil Akinade at the end of the first half and later playing for 12 minutes with ten men, while Paddy Kavanagh was being treated for a facial injury.

For Friday Bohemians must prepare without Anto Murphy and Kavanagh, both suspended. Murphy completes his two-game ban for a red card, and Kavanagh misses one game for accumulated yellow cards.

Lorcan Fitzgerald (hamstring), is rated a 50/50 chance to be available. So too is Akinade (shoulder), who took a heavy fall in last week’s defeat of Derry City. Dan Byrne and Marc Griffin are out with long-term injuries.

In a strong team display last Friday Roberto Lopes put in yet another exemplary performance. Just turned 23 last month, he has had leadership responsibilities thrust upon him through captain Derek Pender’s absence.

“At the start of the year I named him vice-captain because he epitomises everything that is good about Bohemian Football Club. He’s come up through the under-19s, he’s honest, he works really hard, and is an example to everyone,” said Long.

“He goes about his business in a quiet manner, he doesn’t look for plaudits. He’s a big influence in the dressing-room, maybe more in actions than in words.”

Lopes may have to play a more defensive role again on Friday, as Bohemians plan without Anto Murphy, who serves an automatic suspension for his red card last week. Fellow-defender Lorcan Fitzgerald returns from suspension but is rated a “50/50 chance” to start, with a hamstring injury.

With defenders Pender and Dan Byrne on the long-term injury list, Bohemians are especially pleased to welcome back Eoin Wearen, a midfielder who can also cover in defence.

Wearen transferred to the north-west with former Sligo manager Owen Heary but has not featured in Rovers’ most recent games. He returns to his native area of Dublin and, if the paperwork can be completed in time, could be pressed into action on Friday.

“He’s a very welcome addition, and we hope we can the best out of him. He’s got a lot of quality and he’s a good fit for Bohemians,” said Long.

Marc Griffin’s cruciate injury and Dean Kelly’s departure leave Bohemians short in the striker department but manager Long, working with a very modest player budget, continues to look for possible signings in the remaining week of the transfer window.